The Hunter
by lindiloo02
Summary: Detective Inspector Arthur Pendragon's first week back on duty is not a good one, not only is there a new killer on the loose but he also has an extremely annoying new partner to content with. Merthur/Slash. COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

**This is rated M to be on the safe side, as there is descriptions of crime scenes though nothing too graphic. I am unsure how explicit Arthur and Merlin's relationship will be yet, I will see how it writes and fits in. I don't know if i will take the risk and post it or edit it out if it gets too explicit  
**

**I am hoping to update at least once a week.**

**No beta so all mistakes are my own.**

**I don't own Merlin and no profit is being made from this.**

* * *

**CHAPTER 1**

**A NEW PARTNER**

Arthur arrived at his father's apartment, bright and early as requested with a small sense of foreboding in the pit of his stomach. His father had requested! This was his first sign that something was wrong. His father didn't ask, he always demanded, sometimes he would demand politely but _never _asked.

The second sign that something wasn't right was the fact that Uther asked to meet him at his apartment, this was something the Chief Superintendent only did when he had something to say he knew Arthur wouldn't like. His father wouldn't risk Arthur making a scene in public, not that he ever would.

He knew his father would want to talk about the Edwin Muirden case, it was going so badly how could he not?

Edwin Muirden! A thorn in Arthur's backside for the last eighteen months. Edwin was a known drug dealer, who had no issues with dealing to kids, even when those kids dropped dead because they didn't know what they were doing or because Edwin's stuff was bad. They suspected that Edwin was working for a large gang, which was why Edwin wasn't fussy who he sold too. He would rather risk the kid's necks than his own. They had everything on him, everything short of a confession. Including the gun Edwin shot Arthur in the back with, complete with fingerprints!

Arthur had spent almost a month in hospital and a further six months recuperating at home. At least that was when he wasn't trying to sneak into the station to do some work, only to be kicked out minutes later. He could just picture the amount of paperwork stacking up on his desk and was itching to start it to prevent it building further. Arthur hated sitting at home doing nothing, when there was work to be done, so these last six months have been torture to Arthur.

He still managed to keep track of Edwin's trial, the trial was not going well at all. It looked like a confession was required because everything else was being overlooked or dismissed. Including the gun, there was a claim that the evidence was tampered with and therefore unusable. With no eye-witnesses to the shooting there was no proof that it was Edwin that shot Arthur. Arthur doubted even with a confession it wouldn't be enough at the rate it was going.

Today was Arthur's first day back on full duty, a day he had been looking forward to, he even counted off the days on his calendar. So it was with a small amount of trepidation he entered his father's apartment.

Uther's apartment was as it always was, everything was so clean and tidy to the point of being clinically sterile. With white wash walls and hard wood floors, black leather sofas and chairs. There was never a single item was out of place and everything had its place, even the books on the bookshelf were in alphabetical order and in size and subject. It always felt like a showroom to Arthur rather than a home.

The only source of colour or personal effects were the tapestries his mother had made before she died. His father had taken them from her gallery before he sold off the business, and hung her tapestries on his walls. The largest one, a giant spectacular medieval castle surrounded by green fields and forests, stood proud in place over the fireplace that Arthur had never once seen lit.

Arthur's mother died when he was five years old. Ygraine died in an accident on the way to her art gallery. The scaffolding on the building next to the gallery collapsed while she was passing under it, killing her and two workers who were on the scaffolding at the time.

His father had managed to convict the owner of the scaffolding company for negligence and bankrupted the firm in one move taking no prisoners. Uther had taken Ygraine's death extremely hard, he became a very hard stern man. He never moved on and closed himself off and hardened his heart to anyone and everyone, including Arthur.

Arthur's childhood had been very difficult as a result, Uther was a strict parent with impossibly high expectations. He was overbearing, never showed any affection and always moved the goal post whenever Arthur was close to achieving something making Arthur feel like he was never good enough.

Arthur had moved out joined the Camelot Police Force as soon as he was able too, to put some distance between them and try and get his own life in order. Although that soon backfired as Uther was soon promoted and became his boss and was just as demanding a boss as he was a father.

There was never any question that Arthur would join the police force, his father had groomed him for from day one. Arthur hadn't minded though, it turned out that Arthur was very good at his job and he loved the idea that everyone was a little bit safer because of him.

Arthur found the Chief Superintendent in his office already sat at his desk waiting for Arthur. After knocking on the door and been given permission to enter Arthur took the seat on the other side of the desk. He knew his father would get straight to the point with no greetings or pleasantries. That was another thing Uther didn't do, he didn't do feelings, feelings made you weak. The fact that Arthur was sat in front of him alive and whole was enough for Uther to know he was fine.

"I'm assigning you a partner." Uther stated, once Arthur was settled in his chair.

"You're what?"

"You heard me" Uther replied sternly.

"No, I don't want a partner, I don't need a partner."

"I wasn't asking, and I say you do."

"I have never needed a partner before I certainly don't need one now." Arthur snapped. He didn't, he had always done things himself, he doesn't trust anyone else to do the job right or the way he wanted them.

"You almost got yourself killed taking down Edwin, you need back up."

"I have Gwaine and Percy for back up."

"Not good enough," Uther snapped. "You need someone with you watching your back. Gwaine and Percival can't always be there, they have their own case load to work. And perhaps if you had an extra pair of eyes and hands it wouldn't have taken you so long to bust Edwin in the first place."

Arthur's eyes widened at the accusation. "You think that was my fault?! I did everything right, I don't have a high success rate for nothing, I am far from incompetent!"

"No of course you're not, you're a Pendragon and Pendragon's do not fail." Uther snapped. "But it can't be denied that two heads are better than one. Everyone else has a partner except for you, as my son you are supposed to set an example not set yourself apart."

"I have never once asked nor expected special treatment just because I'm your son!" Arthur exclaimed.

"And rightly so, so don't start now."

"But I –"

"Damn it Arthur! I want you safe." Uther shouted, stunning Arthur into silence. Uther rarely showed feelings of any sort, to the point where Arthur genuinely thought his father didn't care. Arthur could count on one hand the times that Uther showed any emotion towards him, other than anger of course, but Arthur held on to each moment like a life line.

"I'm a detective, danger comes with the job title, and my safety has never been an issue before." Arthur said calmly, now that the fight had been knocked out of him.

"Every detective is supposed to have a partner in order to minimise the danger" Uther cleared his throat and looked Arthur directly in the eye, silently begging for Arthur to understand. "And you have never been shot before."

Now that Arthur looked closer he could see extra lines on his father's face, Arthur always put them down to the stresses of the job, never did he think they were over his safety.

"Arthur, I know I haven't been…..the best father…..and that I have been…..difficult over the years, but you are my son and I do care about you, it is unnecessary to put yourself at risk any more than you need to."

"Fine" Arthur conceded. He still didn't like it but he found couldn't argue with his father when he was looking at him like that and being so open, making Arthur feel blindsided.

"Good, now that's settled, oh he arrives today." Uther added.

"Today!" Arthur shouted.

"Yes today." Uther said sternly, back to his normal self now that the emotional moment was over. "And I expect you to make him feel welcome and part of the team."

"Fine." Arthur huffed. Some more notice would have been nice, but then Arthur didn't think he would like it any more even if he had a month's notice.

"Now have you been keeping track of Edwin's trial?" Uther asked.

"Of course" Arthur replied. "The verdict is supposed to come in today, but I'm not holding my breath for a conviction. The whole trial has been a complete joke."

"Yes, well we knew it wouldn't go smoothly when we found out that Agravaine was acting for the prosecution" Uther agreed.

"Smoothly? It's like the man isn't even trying. Was the gun tampered with?"

"No, but it wasn't stored correctly which gave them cause to strongly imply that it had, apparently the rest of the evidence is circumstantial."

"And Agravaine is more or less just going along with it, making easy for the defence." Arthur growled.

"Indeed" Uther nodded. "If Edwin is released today I want you to continue the investigation on him do whatever it takes to get concrete evidence."

"Yes father" Arthur said. Like he was going to stop. He will never stop with Edwin until he was safely behind bars.

"It might be worth looking into Agravaine too, he is making it too easy, something doesn't feel right."

"Yes, I was thinking that. I'm wondering if he has been paid off, by Edwin's gang maybe."

"Sounds about right, I have never liked that man." His father agreed.

"Is my new partner up to speed on this case?" Arthur asked unable to keep the hint of anger out of his voice.

"Of course" Uther narrowed his eyes. "He graduated to the top of his class and has an exemplary record so far, I only have the best at my station."

Arthur couldn't deny that, everyone at the station was the best in their field. "You're not landing me with some green gilled cadet are you?"

"He doesn't have a great deal of field experience but he is very good. He is not that much younger that you. I have every confidence that you will make a good team, I except you to make sure of it." Uther warned.

"Yes father" Arthur sighed. "Will that be all?"

"For now" Uther nodded. "You can go"

Arthur got up and left for the police station no longer looking forward to his first day back and wishing he had stayed in bed that morning.

* * *

Merlin's day was also off to a bad start. His alarm didn't go off and he had to skip breakfast to make up the time. And now he was stuck in traffic.

He had just moved into the city from the country and was currently staying with his uncle Gaius until he had his own place, though Merlin suspected that Gaius wanted him to stay. Uncle Gaius was getting on years now so extra company and hands was a big help to Gaius. Plus it stopped his mother from worrying about them both now that they were looking out for each other.

Merlin graduated the top of his class during police school and people often told him that he was going places. He was going nowhere in Ealdor, there was nowhere to go. Merlin loved the country, he grew up there and would always have a soft spot for the country.

However nothing ever happened there. The most exciting thing to happen was when old man's Simmons herd of cows escaped from their field and decided to take a stroll down the main high street. Merlin couldn't prove it but he strongly suspected that his cousin Will had something to do with it. Will had been too happy about it and was just in the right place at the right time with his camera taking pictures of Merlin trying to wrestle a cow out of the main café, which then ended up all over Facebook.

Merlin needed more, he needed something that would force him to use his brain before he died of boredom. He felt like he was being wasted when he knew he was capable of so much more. So Merlin moved to the city where they were always short of people, and where he could be of some use and make a difference.

It was his mother's idea to stay with Gaius, she worried about him being on his own so much in the city and she worried about Merlin not taking care of himself properly, this way they could take care of each other.

And on his first day on a new job, in a new city, with a new team, Merlin was stuck in traffic. Merlin was nervous enough as it was about meeting his new partner and colleagues, he didn't want to create a bad impression by being late on his first day. He let his mind drift towards the new case he been sent a few days ago.

Well it wasn't a new case really, it was an old case about an Edwin Muirden, and he had already been caught and was currently on trial. Although despite the evidence against him it's not looking good. If he gets released today it will probably be Merlin's first case.

Merlin was already anticipating it to be a rough one due to the fact that Edwin had shot his partner to be. He hoped his partner was not the type to go charging in after him guns blazing, otherwise they will be pulled of the case and Edwin will walk.

Pulling into station, ten minutes late Merlin took a deep breath to steady himself before making his way inside the station to report to his superior.

The station was the complete opposite to the station in Ealdor it was buzzing with activity. There were people chatting or barking orders, phones were ringing, machinery humming, the sound of a hundred keyboards tapping away, it was like the place was alive.

Merlin approached the reception desk that was being manned by a young dark skinned Constable, with warm brown eyes and long soft brown which was currently in a long plait to meet regulations.

"Hello I'm DS Merlin Emrys, can you tell me where I might find DI Arthur Pendragon?"

The young woman looked up and gave him a wide warm smile.

"Are you his new partner?"

"I am" Merlin answered.

"You will probably being seeing a lot of me then, I'm Detective Constable Guinevere Wayland, but most people call me Gwen." Gwen introduced herself, offering her hand.

"Merlin" he grinned while taking her hand. "So tell me, what am I letting myself in for? What's he like?" Merlin asked, taking an instant liking to Gwen.

"Who Arthur?" Merlin nodded. "Honestly, he's a bit of a bully." Some of the surprise must have shown on Merlin's face as Gwen quickly added. "But once you get to know him you will find he is a good man with a good heart, and is actually quite sweet, he just doesn't like to show it."

"Right…Well it's a good thing I know how to deal with bullies then." Merlin grinned.

"I'm sure you'll be fine Merlin, honestly his bark is far worse than his bite. Although the fact that you are now fifteen minutes late is not going to go down well."

"I know, I'm sorry, I'm new to the city so I am still getting my bearings and I completely underestimated the traffic." Merlin explained.

"I will tell you what, since it's your first day I will help you out just this once, if Arthur….when Arthur asks why you are late tell him you have been filling some paperwork with me."

Merlin beamed "Awww Gwen you are a star, I could very quickly grow to like you very much." Merlin sighed in relief. He realised the implications of what he said when Gwen's cheeks turned red with a small blush and she started to shift uncomfortably "In a very platonic way of course." He added, trying to put her at ease.

"My husband will be so pleased to hear that" Gwen laughed.

"You're married?" he asked with a smile.

"Yep just last month, I'm still getting used to saying 'my husband'"

"Congratulations!" Merlin beamed, "Tell your husband that you are completely safe with me"

Gwen narrowed her eyes at him and tilted her head a little as if she was weighing him up "Gay?" she asked.

Merlin nodded "Am I that obvious?"

"Yes!" Gwen's eyes widened "I mean no, I mean…..I am very good at reading people" Gwen settled with, blushing with self-mortification.

Merlin laughed. "Its fine Gwen honest, I don't generally go around advertising it, but I'm out and proud."

"Oh thank God" Gwen laughed, as she relaxed again.

Merlin glanced at his watch he was now twenty minutes late. "Shit! I'm sorry Gwen but I can't stay and chat, I really need to find DI Pendragon."

"Oh, of course, sorry, I tend to babble sometimes, the Detective Inspector's office is on the left hand side third door down."

"Thank you" Merlin said, as he turned towards the bull pen that was centred in the middle of several offices and interview rooms. Merlin imagined there would be several floors that looked like this for a city the size of Camelot.

"Oh Merlin?" Gwen called, before he could take two steps. "If you come back later I will give you a tour the place and good luck"

"Sure thing" Merlin beamed, certain that he had already made a good friend "And thanks, I think I'm going to need it."

Merlin quickly made his way the left hand side of the buzzing bull pen, eyes darting in every direction trying to take everything in. So much so he almost went past the DI's office. The shine of the brass name plate on the door caught his eye as he was passing. Looking closer, the plaque read _'Detective Inspector A. Pendragon.'_

Merlin knocked on the door and waited. When no reply came Merlin knocked again. He was about to knock a third time when a response finally came. "Enter" a loud stiff voice rang out clearly. Merlin frowned he had a sneaky suspicion that he had been heard the first time and was made to wait.

He pasted a smile on his face before opening the door to reveal a decent sized office that had filing cabinets lined up on one side with stacks of files on top as well as some computer equipment. There was a fairly large desk, on the other side, that seemed to take up half the room and behind said desk was Arthur Pendragon.

Merlin closed the door and approached the desk. So far all he could see was a pair of well-built shoulders and arms and a mop of blonde hair, as the DI had yet to look up and acknowledge him.

"Detective Sergeant Merlin Emrys reporting Sir."

"You're late." Arthur's clipped voice stated, still with his eyes on the paperwork in front of him.

"Sorry Sir, I was filling in some paperwork with Detective Constable Wayland."

Arthur huffed and shook his head "Make sure it doesn't happen again."

"Yes Sir" Merlin replied, thanking his lucky stars for Gwen.

Arthur finally looked up at Merlin and leant back in his chair. Arthur slowly moved his eyes up and down over Merlin, his facial expression betraying nothing. Merlin felt like he had been judged and had been found wanting. He fought the urge to fidget under the calculating gaze.

Merlin was surprised, Arthur was younger than he was expecting. Arthur was athletically built with broad shoulders and thick arms. Merlin could just make out a hint of the muscles hidden under Arthur's shirt. He had bright blue eyes and a chiselled jaw line with golden blonde hair. Arthur was actually rather hot, that was until he opened his mouth and ruined it all.

"You look a little young to be a detective." Arthur drawled.

"I have taken all the appropriate exams and passed them all with flying colours Sir, you will also see a recommendation from my superiors-"

"Do you have any field experience?" Arthur interrupted, though with the tone of his voice it was clear he already knew the answer.

"I have some field experience."

Arthur snorted. "Hmmm….I am sure that the country side is just rife with crime"

"Ealdor may not be 'rife with crime'" Merlin mimicked, causing Arthur to raise an eyebrow at him "But I am absolutely certain I can handle-"

"Yes, yes, we shall soon see about that won't we? I have your file here, says here that you're a born natural."

"So I have been told Sir."

"Yes well I will be the judge of that." Arthur leant forward looking directly at Merlin with a hard look. "Let's get one thing straight right now. You do things. By. The. Book." Arthur emphasised the last 3 words "and you will do exactly as I say, when I say. I won't have some newbie who is still green around the gills coming in here trying to make a name for himself and showing up the department in the process, you will follow my orders. To. The. Letter." emphasising his last 3 words again "Is that understood?"

"Yes Sir." Merlin gritted out through his clenched jaw.

"Right well I skipped breakfast this morning and seeing how it's almost lunch time you can start by getting lunch." Arthur ordered.

Merlin opened his mouth about to protest, but Arthur raised his eyebrow, challenging him. "Yes Sir." And marched out of the office before Arthur could say anything else. Merlin glimpsed a smug smirk from Arthur as he closed the door and muttered "Prat" under his breath.

Merlin was fuming, Arthur had no right to treat him like that, just because he was the new guy. Arthur may outrank him but that doesn't mean Merlin's rank didn't deserve any respect. Merlin smirked to himself as he had an idea.

* * *

A couple of hours later Merlin had been given a tour by Gwen. So he now knew where all the interview rooms were, the cells in the basement, the high ranking officers on the top floor and the locker and changing rooms that even included showers. But then this job can get messy at times, it wouldn't do to go around the streets covered dirt or blood.

Gwen also took him next door where all the evidence labs and storage rooms where. And introduced him the head Pathologist, Lancelot Du Lac, who also happened to be Gwen's husband. When Merlin frowned at the names Gwen explained that she wanted to be more modern and kept her maiden name.

It was extremely clear that Gwen and Lance were completely besotted with each other, they seemed to find it difficult to take their eyes off each other, and both gravitated towards one another as soon as Gwen and Merlin entered the room.

Lancelot was extremely nice and polite, he didn't have a bad word to say about anyone, even after Merlin had complained about Arthur Pratdragon.

Apparently Arthur's father was the Chief Superintendent of the station which actually went some way to explain Arthur's arrogance. Both Gwen and Lance assured him that Arthur is not usually like this and he was actually a decent guy underneath it all. Arthur was just a bit put out because he didn't want a partner, which meant he had more attitude to put up with until Arthur got over himself.

Gwen and Merlin then picked some lunch from the café across the road before Gwen showed him to an empty desk in the bull pen area near Arthur's office. He was supposed to share Arthur's office, but Merlin couldn't see that happening any time soon. So for now he had to settle for this tiny desk until something else could be sorted for him.

Merlin had just finished lunch and was contemplating what to do next, as of yet he no cases. But before he could decide Arthur's door swung open.

"Emrys!" Arthur bellowed. Merlin looked up to see Arthur gesture into his office, Merlin got up and followed Arthur into his office already knowing what this was about.

"Well?" Arthur asked, once he sat down.

"Well what? Sir." Merlin asked, feigning ignorance, doing his best to look innocent.

"I sent you to go and get lunch over two hours ago."

"Yes Sir."

"Well? Where is my lunch?"

"I don't know Sir, where did you last see it?"

Arthur took a deep breath as if he was trying to remain calm, "I haven't seen it at all, you were supposed to get it" Arthur said slowly.

"No Sir"

"No?"

"Well Sir, you said to go and get lunch, so I went and got my lunch as you didn't specify whose lunch to get." Merlin explained.

"Excuse me" Arthur growled.

"Well Sir, if you want me to follow your orders. To. The. Letter." mimicking Arthur with the last three words "Then perhaps you should make your orders more clear in the future."

"How dare you! You knew damn well what I meant" Arthur shouted. "I am your superior, you will not dis-respect me."

"I am a detective not a servant! You may be my superior, but that does not give you the right to treat me like dirt." Merlin shouted back. "I am supposed to be your partner, we are supposed to be working together."

"You can't talk to me like that, I out rank you."

"If you want me to respect you and your rank, you have to respect mine. It starts with Detective, not servant, or errand boy or skivvy."

Arthur snorted "Clearly the country standards are much lower if an idiot like you managed to make detective."

"And yet it's Camelot that's 'rife with crime' not Ealdor. At least in Ealdor you had to work and study to earn your title. Unlike Camelot where it's simply a case of _who_ you know."

Arthur's face turned red with rage "I will have you know I have worked damned hard to get where I am and it had nothing to do with my father."

"You're not the only one who has had to work hard and if you weren't such a clotpole you'd see that"

The room fell silent for a moment, the tension dropping a few levels. Arthur frowned in confusion "A what?"

"A clotpole."

"That's not a word"

"Yes it is"

"No it isn't"

"Yes it is"

"Really? Then what does it mean?" Arthur challenged.

"It means blockhead, numbskull."

There was a knock on the door and they were interrupted by a tall slim man, who when he caught Merlin's eye, straightened up, grinned and flicked his long dark hair over his shoulder.

"Afternoon Princess" the man nodded at Arthur then waltzed over to Merlin "And who might you be?"

"I'm Merlin"

"Gwaine" Arthur snapped. "This is Detective Sergeant Merlin Emrys, Merlin this is Detective Sergeant Gwaine Green. Don't worry about Gwaine he will flirt with anything with a pulse."

"I'm not worried" Merlin smiled.

Gwaine beamed "Are you the poor unfortunate soul who got lumped with Arthur as a partner?"

"Sadly yes."

"Was there something you wanted Gwaine?" Arthur scowled.

"Ah yes Princess" Gwaine replied. Merlin had to bite his lip to prevent himself from laughing at the nickname, he couldn't help but feel it fit Arthur perfectly.

"The verdict is in" Gwaine said, becoming serious.

"And" Arthur encouraged.

"Innocent"

"What?" Merlin exclaimed, looking to Arthur, who didn't look too surprised. Merlin knew the Edwin case wasn't going smoothly but there was so much evidence was against him.

"They claimed that there was no proof that Edwin shot Arthur since there was no witness." Gwaine explained.

"What about the gun?" Merlin asked.

"They are saying the gun was tampered with and that the rest of the evidence was circumstantial with nothing definitive."

"Right" Arthur said "I want surveillance on him ASAP, cameras, mics the works we are not giving up"

Gwaine hesitated, "There's more"

"What?" Arthur asked, when Gwaine didn't continue.

"It appears Edwin has taken out a harassment restraining order"

"Against who?" Arthur shouted.

"Against the CID" Gwaine said. "If any one goes near him, he will sue. We can probably appeal and get it removed but it's going to take time"

"Edwin will run." Arthur sighed, dropping his head into his hands.

"Can't we pass the case on to another department?" Merlin asked "We can still get the order removed but at least someone will be on him while we do that, then we just take the case back"

"DAMN IT!" Arthur shouted, kicking his desk leg.

"It will still take time to process the case to another department and team and then bring that team up to speed." Gwaine explained, ignoring Arthur's outburst.

"Only a day or two though" Merlin said.

"It's long enough for Edwin to run. But it's our only option at the moment, I will leave you to sort that out _Mer_lin." Arthur said, looking up, giving Merlin an evil smirk.

Promoted from servant to desk jockey, it's not ideal but it's a start Merlin thought. "Consider it done."

"Here" Arthur said, getting up and crossing to one of his filing cabinets. Arthur took out a huge wad of files and handed them to Merlin. "Familiarise yourself with these cases, some are recently solved and some are still open, that should keep you busy for a day or two while this mess gets sorted. I will need you up to speed on everything before we go after Edwin."

Merlin smiled and decided to push his luck "Do I get a proper desk?"

Arthur crossed his arms over his chest "You are not sharing my office Merlin."

"Gwen says I'm supposed to."

"You are not sharing my office Merlin." Arthur repeated. "Maybe when you are older you will have an office of your own, but you are not sharing mine. It's bad enough I have to put up with you as a partner but you are not invading my office. The desk outside will be fine for your needs."

"Prat!" Merlin insulted. "You're not that much older than me you know, you've got what….maybe four, five years on me."

"Five, but I'm still older."

"Are you sure?" Merlin teased. "Because I am seriously doubting that right now. You're behaving like you _are_ five."

"Go Merlin!" Arthur growled.

Merlin turned to Gwaine who it turned out was watching both Merlin and Arthur very carefully, with a slight glint in his eye that spelled trouble. "See you later Gwaine."

"Count on it Wizard Boy." Gwaine frowned and shook his head, moving to the door ahead of Merlin. "No, I don't like that, don't worry I will think of something better." And left leaving a confused Merlin behind. Merlin decided to ask about it later as he didn't want to be left alone with Arthur too long in case he remembered their previous argument and took the case files from him. Merlin quickly left the room to make a start on his paperwork on his tiny little desk.

* * *

Arthur was exhausted by the time he got home, the last thing he needed was to find his harpy sister making herself comfortable on his sofa.

"How did you get in?" Arthur demanded.

"Lovely to see you too brother dearest."

Arthur strode over to her and held out his hand, "Give"

Morgana proceeded to hand over a key he had never seen before, "You do realise I have plenty more, I got a discount for a batch order."

"Does privacy mean nothing to you?" Arthur asked, as he made his way over to his cabinet in the corner of his living room to pour himself a shot of whisky. He needed it after the ear full he got from his father over Edwin. Uther blamed Arthur for Edwin's release and restraining order and made sure Arthur knew it.

"I'm a reporter so no" Morgana smirked from the sofa.

"I've had a long day, so what do you want Morgana?"

"I heard about Edwin"

"Terrific!" Arthur sighed, as he slumped into his chair sipping his whiskey and relishing the burn in his throat. "Does this mean it's going to be all over the papers tomorrow?"

"I'm a reporter and it's a big case how could I not report it?"

"Fantastic, so that means I can expect another earful from father in the morning." Arthur groaned.

His father had not been pleased when Morgana announced that she was going into journalism instead of the police force. Arthur remembered hearing the argument from his hiding spot at the top of the stairs.

Morgana had been the result of a one stand from Uther before he married his mother. However Uther failed to acknowledge her existence until Morgana's mother and the man she thought was her father died in a skiing accident in the Alps when Morgana was twelve years old. Uther then had no choice but to acknowledge her and tried to raise her.

Morgana had been livid, she claimed she was Uther's dirty little secret and that he was ashamed of himself and didn't want to deal with the consequences. Uther claimed he didn't want to rip her family apart and take away the man she knew as her father. This lead to an increasingly rocky relationship between Morgana and Uther.

Arthur didn't take sides he saw that both points of view had merit. He did his best not to get involved and just tried to be a good brother, although the harpy didn't make it easy for him either. They fought constantly, especially when they clashed professionally.

"Don't worry, your completely safe this time." Morgana said, shaking Arthur from his thoughts. "I fully intend to point the finger at Agravaine. His performance was a disgrace."

"I agree with you on that one, the man may as well have not been there for all the good he did." Arthur said taking another sip of his whisky.

"Edwin has connections with a large gang, I'm implying that the gang got to Agravaine and paid him off."

"Morgana" Arthur warned.

"Oh don't start Arthur. It's only slander if I outright accuse him and even then he has to prove me wrong and we both know that there is actually a good chance it's true."

"It's not just about that Morgana, your messing with the gang now and if Agravaine is one of theirs you are exposing him and they won't like that."

"Not worried about me are you Arthur?" Morgana teased.

"Of course I am, I'm always worried about you Morgana, mainly for your sanity but it still counts." Arthur smiled. His whisky was kicking in now and he could feel his body relax further into his chair. "I would caution you against this, but I know you will ignore me, so just….be careful."

"It's already done Arthur, it's being printed as we speak." Morgana paused to take in Arthur's dishevelled appearance. "How are you?"

"Peachy" Arthur retorted.

"Seriously Arthur, Edwin shot you in the back and left you for dead, how can that not bother you." Morgana said darkly.

"It does, I hate the fact that he is back on the streets and as soon as we are in the clear I intend to hunt him down no matter how far he has ran." Arthur paused for another drink, and saw the slightly concerned look on Morgana "Besides it's mandatory to receive counselling after being injured in the line of duty, I couldn't have returned to work if she didn't think I was fit enough." Arthur said. Knowing the fact that Arthur had spoken to a counsellor would stop Morgana from worrying. Not that she would ever admit to worrying about Arthur, their relationship was a very complicated love hate relationship. They would pick on and tease each other mercilessly but they were there for one another if it was important. They were also very protective of each other nobody was allowed to mess with the other.

"So how is your new partner shaping up?"

"Merlin?" Morgana nodded, "He's an idiot."

"Of course he is." And now we were back to the teasing.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means" Morgana said. "That you could have the best partner in the world and you would still think he was an idiot simply because he was your partner. You never did learn to play well with others."

"I play with others just fine."

"Really? Then why have I heard about a shouting match in your office today?"

Arthur narrowed his eyes at Morgana, "Who told you that?"

"A good reporter never reveals her sources" Morgana said lofty.

"Guinevere" Arthur growled, who was most likely told by Gwaine. "I shall have to have a word with her about police confidentially. Again!"

"I hear Merlin gave as good as he got, I would have liked to have seen that, you are used to people cowering before you not standing up to you."

"That just makes him more of an idiot."

"I already like the sound of him, make sure you bring him to the pub with you tomorrow, I can't wait to meet him."

"So you can take his side, I don't think so." Arthur snorted.

"Really Arthur, it's not his fault he got lumped with you for a partner." Arthur just rolled his eyes, he wasn't that bad, and if Merlin couldn't handle it then he had no right being a detective.

Morgana's phone started to beep with a message, and she dove into her bag to retrieve it. "Well it's been lovely chatting with you brother dearest but I must dash, duty calls."

"Just remember to be careful Morgana" Arthur said, as Morgana started to gather her things.

"You too Arthur" Morgana called, and quickly left his apartment. Arthur sighed and downed the last of his whisky. Food, shower and bed Arthur decided, in that order.

* * *

Arthur was abruptly woken by his alarm, he blindly reached over and smacked it a few times before he realised it was his phone ringing. Forcing his eyes open he blinked blearily at the numbers on his alarm as he groped around for his phone. 5:27am.

Arthur groaned he wasn't supposed to be for another hour and a half.

Phone in hand, he rolled onto his back and answered the call. "Pendragon"

"We have a homicide Sir." Came Guinevere's voice.

"Where?" Arthur asked, getting out of bed to find clothes, feeling much more awake all of a sudden.

"Just off The Broadwalk at Regents Park"

"I'm on my way."

"Should I call Merlin Sir?"

Arthur groaned again he had forgotten about Merlin "Yes, I suppose you better had."

"Has the Vic been ID'd yet?"

"Yes Sir."

"Well then who is it?" Arthur asked when Gwen didn't continue.

There was a pause before she answered.

"It's Edwin Muirden Sir."

* * *

Jargon buster

DC – Detective Constable

DS – Detective Sergeant

DI – Detective Inspector

DCS – Detective Chief Superintendent

Vic – Victim

CID – Criminal Investigation Department


	2. A New Case

**This is a little earlier than planned.**

**Still no beta, still don't own Merlin  
**

**Enjoy! **

* * *

**CHAPTER 2**

**A NEW CASE**

It didn't take long for Arthur to find the crime scene. The flashing lights and yellow tape were a big give away. The public were currently standing behind the tape, given the hour of the morning there wasn't a big crowd yet, but he could already see Morgana amongst the press.

Regents Park is a popular attraction with both locals and tourists, so he knew they wouldn't be able to keep it quiet for long.

Arthur put on his paper protective shoes and latex gloves then picked up his notebook and clipped his ID badge on to his lapel.

He then started to make his way through the small crowd. He could already hear Morgana calling him, but he ignored her as he always does in these situations. He was on duty therefore the crime came first.

Once he had made it through to the crime scene he was very annoyed to find his crime scene swarming with people, some still in uniform and some in white protective suits. They were walking all over the place talking amongst themselves and not even bothering to keep their voices low. Arthur didn't even recognise most of them.

"ALRIGHT EVERY ONE STOP!" He shouted, everybody froze and was silent.

"Why are there so many people trampling all over my crime scene? And NOBODY has any business being around the body without protective clothing. You are all destroying evidence, who is the FOA?"

A very young weasely looking Lieutenant put his hand up. "Name?!" Arthur demanded.

"Lieutenant Cedric Brown Sir."

"Did you call up all these people? And invade my crime scene?"

"Yes Sir, but we all being extremely careful and no evidence is being destroyed."

"Really?" Arthur asked sarcastically.

"Look down tell me what you see?" Every one down and around them. The Lieutenant's face paled when he realised his mistake.

"Footprints Sir."

"Footprints" Arthur confirmed. "Not only is everyone NOT wearing protective shoes and therefore contaminating the scene, but you are all leaving footprints, which means the killer did too. Assuming you have not already destroyed the perpetrator's footprints it's now going to be virtually impossible to make out the perp's footprints from all of yours."

"Sorry Sir!"

"SORRY! You're sorry. Well _I'm_ sorry but sorry isn't good enough, I should put you probation for your incompetence."

"Please Sir. It was a mistake."

"A MISTAKE! Forgetting your keys is a mistake, forgetting an item from your grocery list, that's a mistake, THIS, this is reckless and irresponsible, just how long have you been on the job?"

"Three months, Sir!" Cedric replied, looking like he was going to sick.

"THREE MONTHS! Clearly you need to go back to police school for a refresher course, because this is basic procedure."

"Alright Arthur that's enough" Merlin said, quietly from his side startling Arthur a little who hadn't even notice Merlin arriving.

"I say when it's enough, the perp might get away because of his incompetence."

Arthur quickly glanced down to check Merlin was wearing his protective clothing, and was pleased to see that at least someone was following procedure.

"It's not just him though is it? There are plenty of seasoned officers here all of which should have known better. You can't blame one man for something that everyone has had a part in. Or do you just like picking on the newbies?"

"That's no excuse, and how else will you learn if I don't teach you?"

"Wow" Merlin snorted. "They told me you were a bully but they didn't say you are an arrogant prat too."

"You watch your tone with me or I will bust you down to traffic duty so fast it will give you whiplash." Arthur growled, through his clenched jaw.

"Sirs!" Lance called, emerging from the swarm, in a full white paper suit. Calling their attention to their audience. "Perhaps we could focus on the situation at hand?"

Arthur nodded and Merlin had the sense to remain quiet. "Alright! I want some officers protecting the perimeter to keep the public and press at bay, otherwise if you are not part of the forensic team then you have no need to be here, so leave, NOW!"

Arthur's crime scene was cleared in a matter of minutes, as people scattered and darted around hoping to stay out of Arthur's line of fire. Then all that was left was Arthur, Merlin and the CSI team.

Now Arthur now had a clear view of the body and could see just how unusual it was. Both Arthur and Merlin moved in for a closer look.

Edwin's body looked like it was a piece of meat in the back of a butcher's shop, the paleness of his skin standing out against the earthy colours of the wooded area that surrounded him. He had been stripped of all clothing, and had been hung upside down and tied to a tree branch by his ankles. His arms were hanging down with his hands scraping the wooded bloody floor. The body was virtually white making the blood streaking down it stand out vividly. The blood had gathered into a very large pool under the body, and there was a lot of blood. There was also something not quite right about the head, on closer inspection Arthur realised large chunks of hair had been taken, taking part of the scalp with it. The cuts were so deep that Arthur could see the white bone of his skull.

A small distance from the body was a pile of ashes, evidence of a small fire recently.

"Lance?" Arthur asked. Lancelot who was kneeling down at the head examining the neck looked up before he stood.

"Right well this is just a primarily report, I need to get the body back to the lab to run further tests."

"Okay give us what you have got so far."

"At this point I would say that cause of death is Exsanguination, I will need to run tests to confirm that but given the amount of blood on and around the body and the places of the incisions I think it's a safe bet."

"Incisions?" Merlin asked, reminding everyone of his presence.

"There are five small incisions on the body, two are on the inner thighs severing the Femoral Arteries, another two on the inner upper arm severing the Brachial Arteries and one more severing the jugular veins. Even if the perp took his time he still would have bled out quickly. Within a minute or two. I have already taken the core temperature of the body and will be able to give you a time of death later as I have to take into account the outside temperature last night, the blood loss and the fact that the body is naked."

"It looks almost like how a farmer would slaughter his livestock." Merlin muttered, deep in thought.

Arthur frowned. "How so?"

"Well _almost_. A farmer would first stun his stock, let's say a cow, first he would stun his cow with an electric shock. It is usually delivered to the brain using a bolt pistol or electric tongs. This prevents the cow from feeling any pain or any undue stress, then he hangs his cow upside down tying the back hooves together, the jugular veins are then cut and the cow bleeds out before it is moved down the line. If it's done correctly the animal doesn't feel any pain and death is always quick. It's done upside down to assist in draining the carcass."

"Hmmm….Would a farmer sever all the main arteries? And what about the head wounds?" Arthur asked absorbing the information.

"No, only the jugulars" Merlin paused to think before continuing "before the electric tongs were invented, death would be delivered by blunt force trauma to the head before draining the animal."

"No" Lance interrupted "Despite the wounds to the head there is no blunt force trauma, to leave wounds like this, the skull would be caved in or smashed but the skull is intact. And the hair is missing, I would say he was scalped but the perp left parts of it behind, he didn't take the whole scalp."

"A hunter!" Merlin exclaimed.

"A hunter doesn't scalp his prey Merlin." Arthur said.

"No but he does skin them sometimes and keep the fur." Merlin explained.

"Now that's a sickening thought, why would someone want to keep human hair?" Arthur asked.

"A hunter shoots his prey" Lance added. "There is no gunshot wounds that I can see at the moment but there is a puncture wound on his neck, from a needle or tranquiliser gun, I'm not sure yet, again I will need to run tests."

"What's that over there?" Arthur asked, indicating to the pile of ashes.

"I would say the Vic's clothes, but again tests will be needed to confirm, we may find some evidence of the hair or the scalp in there." Lance answered.

"Okay get back to us with a full report and test results as soon as you can. And get Leon to have a look maybe he can come up with a basic profile for us" Arthur said, walking away with Merlin close behind leaving Lance to his body.

Leon was their resident profiler who also happened to have a major crush on Morgana which Arthur suspected was reciprocated. Not that Morgana would admit such things, she was married to her work. Honestly those two had been dancing around each other for years.

"So suspects?" Arthur asked.

"From the file I received that could be any number of people. Family members of the kids Edwin killed, a disgruntled druggie or dealer, a member of the gang he was in."

"Get together a list of potential suspects and we will have to interview them one by one, it's all we have until the evidence comes in."

"Yes Sir." Merlin smiled at him.

Arthur rolled his eyes "Don't get too excited Merlin a lot of these interviews are not going to be pleasant and they are not going to much information for fear of incriminating themselves for something."

They were just passing the perimeter when Arthur spotted Cedric amongst those keeping the public crowd at bay, which had got significantly bigger in a short period of time. He was surprised Cedric was still there and hadn't taken the opportunity to run away with his tail between his legs. "Do you have the name and address of the person who found and reported the body?"

"Yes Sir." Cedric replied, and quickly produced his note book and tore off the top page giving it to Arthur.

Arthur raised his eyebrow, "I hope you have a copy of this for your report"

"Ah no Sir."

Arthur rolled his eyes and gave the paper back, "Make a copy" Arthur saw Morgana making a bee line him. "Quickly" he added. "And make sure none of the press, including my harpy sister, gets an eyeful of it."

"Yes Sir." Cedric said, taking the paper and quickly copying it. Unfortunately not quickly enough.

"Arthur!" Morgana announced.

"Morgana."

"What can you tell me about the body found this morning? Is it true that the victim is Edwin Muirden?" Morgana asked, in full reporter mode.

"No comment. We will release a statement later today when we know more."

"Are you saying the police doesn't know anything at all?"

"Nope I never said that, I said when we know _more_" Arthur said snatching the paper from Cedric.

"Oh come on Arthur, you have to give me something."

"You know the rules Morgana." Arthur said, as he started to walk away.

"Aren't you going to introduce me to your partner?" Arthur turned back to find Morgana had a firm grip on Merlin's arm, preventing him from walking away.

Arthur sighed heavily, this could only lead to bad things for him. "This is DS Merlin Emrys, Merlin this is Morgana La Fay"

Morgana huffed in annoyance, "Arthur you suck at introductions, I'm his sister, well half-sister, but it still counts" Morgana said throwing Arthur's previous words back at him.

"I didn't know you had a sister!" Merlin blurted.

"There is a lot you don't know about me _Mer_lin"

"Oh I know" Merlin nodded. "You're a riddle wrapped up in a mystery" Merlin smiled.

"Oh I like you, I like you a lot" Morgana exclaimed gleefully. "You must come to the pub tonight so we meet and talk properly"

"Not now Morgana." Arthur growled, he actually hadn't intended to invite Merlin.

"Pub?" Merlin asked.

"A group of us usually meet up at The Raising Sun on a Friday night, didn't Arthur tell you?"

"No he didn't" A look of hurt flashed across Merlin's face, but it disappeared so fast Arthur wasn't sure if he imagined it or not.

"Well, I'm inviting you so now you have to come." Morgana said, glaring at Arthur. "Don't let Arthur bother you, he has a giant stick stuck up his ass, he is due for surgery to have it removed any day now."

Merlin laughed and smiled but Arthur noticed it looked forced. Merlin removed his arm from Morgana's clutches. "We will see, work permitting I will be there." Merlin replied, before walking away to the direction of his car.

"You Jerk Arthur." Morgana accused. "He looked like a kicked puppy, how could you be so mean and self-centred?"

"I am not!" Arthur shouted.

"Yes you are, he is completely new to the city and has no friends here."

"That's not my fault."

"Yes but you hardly helping the situation are you? He doesn't have anyone and he is just trying to do his job there is no need to give him such a hard time."

"How do you know so much about him?" Arthur said trying to deflect the topic, Morgana was upsetting his stomach, and it certainly wasn't guilt.

Morgana rolled her eyes "I'm a reporter Arthur, it's my job to know things. Be careful Arthur or before you know it you will turn into Uther." Morgana said, walking away leaving a stunned Arthur behind.

That stung, Morgana may as well have just slapped him across the face. There is no way he was anywhere as bad as his father, was he?

* * *

Merlin made his way straight to the station to compile the suspect list. He was a little hurt and confused. He had been so pleased that Arthur was including him in the investigation, for a brief moment they were a team, and he thought that maybe Arthur was warming up to him, but it was obvious that Arthur had no intentions of inviting to the pub with them later so clearly he thought wrong.

Now he was back to being excluded and a desk jockey.

After a couple of hours of going through every case connected to Edwin, Merlin realised there was information missing, there was nothing on the so called gang. No known members and nothing to indicate Edwin's connection to the gang.

Arthur hadn't come back yet, not that he would ask him for help anyway as Arthur seemed to be going out of his way to make sure Merlin wasn't involved, making his job harder.

Luckily, Gwaine chose that moment to pass him. "Hey Gwaine? Have you got a minute?"

"Sure thing, anything for you" Gwaine grinned, flicking his hair over his shoulder and perching himself on the corner of Merlin's desk, sitting on several papers. "How can I help?"

"Arthur asked me to compile a list of suspects for Edwin's killer, but there is nothing in these files relating to his gang activity or anything about the gang at all. I was hoping you could fill me in."

"Well, there are a few gangs around Camelot, most of them are small except for one. That one is run by a Mordred Black, he has a small inner circle Alvarr, Kara, Tauren and Helios, those are the ones he really trusts but there are others. We have some evidence on them but not enough for a solid conviction or to put them away for a long time." Merlin quickly made a note of the names. "There is more information on the database you can access when you get your computer set up." Merlin glanced around his desk, he didn't think a computer would fit. "In the mean time you can use my computer in our office if you need to."

"Thanks Gwaine" Merlin smiled.

Gwaine frowned, "Arthur didn't give you those files?"

Merlin shook his head "No, you're not surprised are you?" Merlin laughed, "Arthur doesn't seem to want me working here at all, he is just giving me paperwork to keep me busy and out of his way"

"Don't let princess get to you, he is a good man underneath all that pompousness and if you tell him I said that I will deny it till my dying breath."

"That's what people keep telling me, but I have yet to see it."

"Tell you what?" Gwaine said. "Why don't you come to the pub with us tonight? A relaxed atmosphere and a couple of drinks might help soften him up a bit plus it will give us the chance to get to know you better."

Merlin was shaking his head before Gwaine had finished. "Arthur has already made it clear he doesn't want me there."

"So! The rest of us want you there! We have like a hundred questions to interrogate you with. And it's not like Arthur owns the pub. If he doesn't like then he can always leave."

Gwaine was right, Merlin thought. He is not going to be shoved to the side so easily, Merlin will not go away. Arthur is a bully and the best way to deal with bullies is to stand up to them. Otherwise he will try to ignore Arthur and pretend he's not getting to him. "You know what, count me in, Arthur will have to like it or lump it. I'm not going anywhere so he will have to get used to me eventually"

"That's the sprit" Gwaine grinned. "We will try not to get you too drunk, we need you coherent enough to answer our questions."

Merlin groaned. "I'm going to regret this aren't I?"

"Don't worry we will be gentle" Gwaine laughed.

Merlin saw Arthur approaching, scowling when his eyes caught sight of Gwaine laughing on Merlin's desk. "You two are not paid to gossip."

"No, I'm paid to be your partner but I'm not doing that either am I?" Merlin retorted.

"Right, so you _don't_ have a list of suspects for me?" Arthur drawled.

"I have a list, but it's incomplete, seeing how you haven't seen fit to give me any information on the gangs." Merlin said, handing Arthur the list of names and addresses.

"I didn't?" Arthur said, in fake innocence.

"No, but its ok Gwaine here gave me some information."

"Oh he did, did he?" Arthur said scowl firmly back in place, snatching the paper from Merlin.

Arthur's eyebrows rose "This is a long list."

"Yes well, you got all Edwin's customers and suppliers, people he has been seen arguing with, friends and family, friends of family of his victims and that is not counting any of the gang related stuff."

"And you got all this done in a couple of hours?"

"Yep" Merlin smiled, feeling pleased that he at managed to surprise Arthur. "What have you been doing?"

"Oh I went to interview the witness who found the body this morning." Arthur said distractedly, still looking down at the list.

"Right" Merlin grit out, trying to push down the irritation of being left out of an interview. "Did you get anything useful?"

"No, just an early morning jogger, she didn't see anything or anyone else." Arthur finally looking up to see Merlin's poorly concealed anger and Gwaine's surprise. "What?"

"You gave me a dressing down last month for going to interview a witness without Percy" Gwaine accused.

"Percy?" Merlin asked.

"Gwaine's partner." Arthur informed him "And you went to interview a main suspect, not a witness, two completely different things."

"You still should have had Merlin with you."

"I had to go while her memories were still fresh and untainted, Merlin was busy"

"And wh-"

"Leave it Gwaine." Merlin said, interrupting them before it turned into a full on shouting match. "What's next?" He asked Arthur.

"Well Lance probably won't be ready with any of the test results until Monday, all these interviews are going to take several days at least, maybe even a couple of weeks depending on how long it takes to track each person down."

Merlin started to quickly pack away his desk, shoving Gwaine's arse off to get the papers underneath. "What are you doing?" Arthur asked when Merlin started to reach for his jacket on his chair.

"I'm coming with you." Merlin said, like it was obvious.

"No you're not."

"You know what, fine" Merlin snapped. "I won't come with you, I have a copy of that list too, so I will do my own interviews."

"No you're not"

"Look! I am here to do a job, a job that I happen to be good at, and whether you like it or not I AM going to do my job, so I either go with you or I go on my own, which is it?"

Arthur didn't respond straight away, he just stood there glaring, clenching his jaw and fists, while Merlin glared back waiting for an answer, trying not to let his nerves show if Arthur called his bluff.

He would do it of course, but he would rather not do it on his own as he is still new to the area and knew nothing about the people on the list, whereas Arthur had already dealt with them all at least once and already had a feel for their personalities.

"Fine" Arthur gritted out eventually. "But we are taking my car and I'm driving."

Merlin rolled his eyes "Whatever" and shrugged on his jacket. He would probably get them lost anyway but he wasn't going to mention that.

A hand landed on his shoulder surprising him, Merlin turned his head to see Gwaine beaming at him. Merlin had actually forgotten Gwaine was there.

"We meet at eight"

"Okay" Merlin agreed, while Arthur huffed and stomped off. Merlin quickly made to follow.

"Later Magic Man" Gwaine called after him, then shook his head "No that's not right either" Gwaine muttered as he walked off in the opposite direction.

* * *

Merlin was exhausted by the time they called it a day. They started with the friends and family of Edwin's victims first as they knew at the news of his murder would soon be in all the papers, if it wasn't already, and they felt it would be better if the news came from them instead of the press.

Arthur had barely spoken to Merlin directly for the rest of the afternoon, only speaking when it was absolutely necessary. Which suited Merlin just fine, he would rather cold indifference than the outright hostility Arthur had shown before. It allowed Merlin to focus properly on the job at hand.

They didn't get anything useful out of the interviews today, nor did they expect too. Merlin was banking on the gang members at the moment, although he expected they would be very tight lipped for fear of incriminating themselves.

Gaius was out at his bridge club when Merlin got home, so he grabbed something to eat then showered and changed into his favourite jeans and a well fitted t-shirt, before leaving a note for Gaius telling him where he was.

Merlin didn't really feel up to going to the pub, he just wanted to fall down on his bed and sink into a deep sleep, it had truly been a long day. But there was no way he was not going to go. He would not give Arthur the satisfaction of thinking he had scared Merlin off.

Merlin was a good half an hour late by the time he had made it to The Raising Sun as everyone had neglected to tell him _where_ it was.

The pub was busy, but then it was Friday night. Merlin was sure that at least half of the crowd in here were officers, he recognised one or two faces from the station. He still managed to spot his crowd easily enough in the back commandeering a large booth to themselves, Gwaine's voice and hair making them easy to find. Merlin recognised most of the faces there but there were a few of new ones.

"Merlin!" Gwaine shouted, as he approached their table. Merlin noticed Arthur tensing up and glaring beside Gwaine. "I was beginning to think you weren't coming"

"Sorry I got a little lost" Merlin explained while Gwaine extracted himself from the group.

Once free he straightened up and flicked his hair over his shoulder, eyeing Merlin up and down, not even attempting to hide what he was doing. "Looking good Merlin, looking very good." He winked as he threw his arm over Merlin's shoulder. "First things first, what's your poison?"

"Oh I will just have a beer, I'm driving so I will only be having the one."

Gwaine pouted, "That's not what I like to hear Merlin, I wanted to get you drunk so that you spill all your embarrassing secrets."

"I'm an open book." Merlin smiled. "I don't have any embarrassing secrets."

"Ah you say that now, but I bet I will find something. Hey Gilli!" Gwaine shouted, over to the barman. "A beer for Merlin when you can." Gwaine turned them both back to the table flicking his hair again and shoved Merlin onto the end seat next to Lance then sitting himself opposite Merlin. "Let me introduce you everyone."

"Lance and mother you already know" Gwaine said indicating to Gwen and Lance.

"Okay let me stop you there for a moment, what's with all the nicknames?"

"I have a nickname for everyone and I will find one for you, it's tradition. Okay so you got Lance and Mother, because Gwen is basically a mother hen to us all."

"Well what's Lance's nickname?"

"Lance" Morgana replied.

Merlin frowned "I don't get it."

"Well you will have to ask Gwen about that" Gwaine smiled cheekily, and winked at Gwen, making her blush a deep cherry red.

"No, no it's okay I think I get it now." Merlin rushed not wanting to embarrass Gwen anymore.

"Next to Gwen we have Elyan otherwise known as Bar Keep." Gwaine said indicating to a dark skinned man who resembled Gwen a lot.

"I'm Gwen's sister and I own the pub, that's why he calls me Bar Keep" Elyan said, reaching over to shake Merlin's hand.

"Merlin" he said, returning his hand. Arthur snorted from his corner and mumbled something under his breath, but everyone ignored him. "Bar Keep? That's not very original."

"The man keeps me supplied with copious amounts of alcohol, I'm hardly going to give him something insulting am I" Gwaine said, while Gilli placed Merlin's beer in front of him.

"Princess you know" Gwaine continued.

"Because he is a self-entitled, high maintenance, arrogant, con-"

"Alright Morgana he gets it" Arthur interrupted stiffly.

"I got that one the first time Gwaine mentioned it." Merlin laughed, Arthur didn't respond he just huffed and rolled his eyes, causing a few of the others to snigger quietly.

"Morgana is precious"

"Precious?" Merlin asked in confusion.

"I wanted to call her Gollum because once she gets her hands on something she never lets go, but Morgana threatened to do lots of scary things to my unmentionables, so we went with precious which is the next best thing." Gwaine explained.

"Threats I'm tempted to make good if you continue to tell people that story." Morgana warned.

Gwaine held his hands up in mock surrender "Last time I promise"

"I'm Leon, I'm one of the department's profilers" The auburn haired man next to Morgana said. Merlin gave a small wave not wanting to reach over the table and knock everybody's beer over.

"Aka Old Yellow" Gwaine filled in, Merlin waited for the explanation to follow, "Because he is as loyal and faithful as Old Yellow."

"And last but not least we have my partner Percival, otherwise known as GG" Gwaine said, as he slapped his hand on the very large man to him, and not large as in fat but large with muscles. His arms were as big as tree trunks and Merlin was pretty sure that this man could snap him like a twig if he wanted too. "GG for Gentle Giant, Percy may look hard and mean but he is a big softy really."

"GG?" Merlin laughed, relaxing now he knew Percy wasn't likely to eat him. "That makes him sound like a horse."

Gwaine beamed at him and winked "Yeah well, that fits too" earning himself more laughs while Percy went bright red next to him.

"Nice to meet you Merlin" Percy said quietly.

"You too" Merlin nodded.

"So now you know the gang, gang this is" Gwaine gestured to Merlin with an odd look on his face, trying to come up with something for Merlin. Merlin and several other people held their breath waiting so see what he would come up with. "Twinkle toes! No! Damn that's not right either, I will find one for you, make no mistake Merlin."

"You know I don't think it has ever taken this long for Gwaine to come up with a name for someone" Lance laughed beside him.

Merlin was rather relieved that he wasn't going to be known as twinkle toes. "Okay Gwaine, what's your nickname?"

"Charming, Handsome, Irresistible, Sex on legs" Gwaine answered, flicking his hair again with a wink.

"Scoundrel, Ruffian" Leon added.

"Hooligan, madman" Lance added.

"Scumbag, Lunatic" Arthur added, "Really, there are so many names that fit Gwaine it's hard to pick just one."

Merlin sat back in thought, Gwaine did remind him of something, but what? It took a moment or two for it too click "Oh I know!" Merlin exclaimed, he then straightened his back and pouted his lips, he flicked his head to one side as if he was flicking hair over his shoulder. "L'Oreal" Merlin winked "Because you're worth it"

After a stunned moment of silence the entire table erupted in laughter.

"Merlin that's perfect" Morgana managed to get out eventually. Merlin was surprised to see that even Arthur was laughing with his head tilted back exposing the long line of his throat.

_No Merlin don't go there, he's certainly not worth it,_ Merlin told himself.

"And here I thought you were my friend Merlin" Gwaine said once he and the rest of the table started to calm down.

"Sorry mate, couldn't resist it, but it is perfect for you, you have been flicking your hair all day"

"Just you wait, Merlin I will get you back for that" Gwaine grinned. Gwaine glanced up at something behind Merlin.

"On another note. We probably don't need to tell you this but we tend not to discuss work matters here, we come here to relax and unwind after a week _in_ work, plus you never know who's listening." Gwaine nodded to the something behind Merlin.

Merlin turned to find Gilli hovering at the booth next to theirs clearly trying to listen in, until he realised he had been caught and quickly moved away back to the bar.

"Nosey little blighter that one" Gwaine said, with all the previous humour gone.

"Unfortunately I can't sack someone just for being nosey" Elyan admitted reluctantly.

"I wouldn't talk shop here anyway, wouldn't want the wrong information to fall into the wrong hands" Merlin said.

"Too right!" Leon said, nodding his approval at Merlin.

By the end of the night Merlin was glad he had made the effort to go. Everyone was so nice and friendly, except for Arthur who just sulked in the corner for most of the night, but nobody took any notice of him, Merlin felt he had made several really good friends.

* * *

After an uneventful but extremely peaceful weekend, too peaceful if truth be told. It had reminded Arthur why he hated the last six months so much.

Arthur was actually considering selling his apartment it was too big for one man, making it feel much emptier than it was, and making his life feel empty in turn.

Arthur hated that feeling he would rather put up with Merlin than put up with that feeling for much longer.

Arthur had no idea what to do with Merlin, or what to make of him. Professionally he was good, he had good instincts and was very fast. He knew that this situation was none of Merlin's fault and Merlin was truly just trying to do his job. All it seemed Merlin wanted, was to be given a chance. Arthur actually wanted to give him that chance, but there was just something about Merlin that immediately put him on the defensive and made him lash out. And Arthur couldn't figure out what or why that was.

He promised himself he would try harder this week. After reflecting on his own behaviour over the weekend Arthur had to admit to himself that even he was a little ashamed off his behaviour. He had no idea what came over him.

Arthur had his weekly meeting with his father which could have gone worse seeing how little they had on Edwin's case at the moment, although he did get a full rant on the way the crime scene was handled. At the same time it could have gone better, his father had gotten wind of the arguments between him and Merlin, which apparently was his fault. It sort of was his fault but he was not going to admit that to his father, he just sat there and took the tongue lashing, not really paying attention to what his father was saying making sure to put in the occasional 'yes father' and promising to do better at the end of it.

Hopefully the rest of the day would be better.

Arthur had received a report on the evidence found at the crime scene. They were unable to identify the perp's footprints with any certainty due to the amount of footprints left by everyone that arrived at the scene. There was no way to determine any wheel prints from a car that could have been used to transport the victim as there was a great deal of traffic around the area.

This could mean the perp didn't use a car and made the Vic walk, or the Vic could have already have been there and was ambushed, he could even have been carried, though that was unlikely as no one could carry a grown man for long and certainly not without being noticed.

The small pile of ashes was the victims clothing, however no trace of skin or DNA had been found, which means the scalp was not in the fire or had been incinerated. Arthur's gut told him the perp took the scalp with him, although he had no idea why. A small canister of common household lighter fluid was found amongst the ashes which was probably used to start the fire, and no fingerprints were found.

Lance had found some fibres on the Vic's face and in the remains of his hair and had them tested. Polyester! One of the most common synthetic fibres used and could be anything. The Vic could have been wrapped in a blanket, it could be from the lining of a car boot or the seats, it could even be from the Vic's own clothing!

This didn't leave them with very much to go on, there were too many variables. Arthur left a copy of the report on Merlin's desk along with the gang case files, before heading over to meet with Leon and Lance hoping their reports would give him more insight.

Arthur hadn't seen Merlin yet this morning, which meant Merlin was late again, at least now he had a genuine reason to have words with Merlin, tardiness was not tolerated.

Arthur walked into Lance's lab to find Lance, Leon and Merlin sat around Lance's desk in the corner.

"What are you doing here?" Arthur pointed and blurted at Merlin before he could stop himself, damn it what was it about merlin that made him act like this?

"Waiting for you" Merlin replied simply.

"But how did you know?" Arthur had only received a message from Lance a few minutes ago to say he was ready with his report.

"I asked Lance to let me know when he was ready, and he did."

"Making friends with everyone, aren't you Merlin" Arthur gritted out.

"Yep" Merlin smiled, "It's only you who hates me Arthur."

That took Arthur by surprise, he didn't hate Merlin. He didn't particularly like him either but he didn't hate him. But he could see how Merlin thought that.

"Hate is such a strong word" Arthur mused.

"But you don't like me do you?"

"Let's get on with the reports shall we?" Arthur said not answering the question, Arthur didn't feel like explaining himself, he wasn't sure he could at this point.

Lance got up and moved over the examination table in the centre of the room. There was a body with a white cloth covering the whole body expect for the feet, which were sticking out at the end. Arthur didn't need to read the tag to know that this was Edwin's body.

Lance removed the cover to expose the body and the giant Y shaped incisions splayed over Edwin's chest from the autopsy.

"Time of death is around 2:30am, cause of death is Exsanguination, or more commonly known as blood loss." Lance turned Edwin's head to indicate to the small puncture wound on his neck "I believe he was incapacitated with a tranquiliser dart first. The puncture wound is too big for a needle and there was a strong sedative present in his blood works. There was active blood flow from all of the five incisions, which means they were all dealt swiftly and quickly. Edwin won't have been conscious and would have bled out very quickly."

"Will our killer be covered in blood from the arterial spray?" Merlin asked.

"It's possible, but unlikely" Lance replied "Contrary to popular belief only a nicked artery will spray far, a fully severed artery like these were, will have only sprayed for a couple of seconds and then pulsed the blood out. Even then it wouldn't have sprayed far as the sedative slowed down the heart beat which in turn will have slowed the blood flow. The cuts are clean and neat indicating a small smooth blade, the same goes for the head wounds, a small blade used to cut the scalp and hair away. There is no blunt force trauma to the skull just a few nicks made with the knife. There is no active blood flow through those wounds which means he was already dead when he was scalped."

"What kind of person would have knowledge of the artery system?" Arthur asked.

"Anyone with a basic knowledge of human anatomy, also that information could easily be found on the internet."

"This doesn't narrow down our list of suspects." Arthur sighed.

"Sorry Arthur, there is nothing under the finger nails or anything else left behind other than the fibres I found on his face and remaining hair."

"Polyester could been from anything though." Merlin said, confirming Arthur's earlier thought.

"Wait, how do you know about the polyester?" Arthur asked Merlin, "I only just read that report."

"Well, as your partner it was sent to me too, I was in early this morning so I used Gwaine's computer to access it."

"Of course I should have known Gwaine was involved." Arthur muttered, feeling a flash of anger towards Gwaine.

"What was that?"

"Nothing" Arthur said, shaking his head. Arthur turned to Leon who was still examining the body "Leon can you tell us anything?"

Leon took in a deep breath before starting "Your killer is controlled, calm and calculated. He knew exactly what he wanted to do and how to do it. He has planned this out very thoroughly, he even brought his own tools, the rope, the lighter fluid, the knife and the tranquiliser gun and took the tranquilliser dart away with him."

"That's a point how did the killer hang the body in the first place? I know Edwin isn't exactly on the big side but it couldn't have been easy to lift the body on to the tree branch." Merlin thought out loud.

"The ligature marks around the ankles, are very deep, they cut all the way through past the dermis layer. Which means some force was with the rope. The killer probably threw the rope over the branch after restraining him and used to hoist him up, if you examine the rope you should find friction burns." Lance explained.

"This is unlikely to be the killers first brush with violence, he will have evolved up this. You may want to look into old records that carry the same or similar signature."

"The signature?" Merlin asked.

"The signature will be the severed arteries or the scalping or the hanging, it could even be a combination of all three together. Your perp will get off on it and won't be able to leave the body alone until he has completed his signature." Leon supplied.

"What about the scalping?" Arthur asked.

"Trophy" Leon stated, "All killers need to relive the thrill of their kill. Some revisit the dump site to interact with the body and some take souvenirs or trophies so that they can relive it as many times as they want. This is an organised kill, organised killers are very intelligent."

"This is looking more and more like a gang hit." Merlin said.

"Agreed, though the trophy doesn't fit into a gang hit." Arthur nodded.

"It could be if they wanted to use it to brag to others, or use it to intimidate other members to keep them in line. Or it might even be a new member trying to prove themselves."

"Hmmm maybe" Arthur's gut was telling him that this was something more, but so far the facts do point to a gang hit.

"How come this doesn't bother you much Arthur?" Lance asked, who was studying Arthur.

"What do you mean?"

"This, the fact that Edwin has been killed, this is the guy you have been chasing for the better part of two years and who shot you."

"Not you too," Arthur groaned rolling his eyes. "Yes, I'm a bit pissed that I didn't get to put him behind bars where he belongs and although he didn't deserve to die like this, I'm not going to lose sleep over it, he isn't…wasn't worth it."

"Fair enough Arthur" Lance conceded "As long as you're okay."

"I'm fine."

Over the next couple of weeks Arthur and Merlin interviewed and checked out alibis for every single name on their list, but all they managed to establish was that Edwin was last seen with Hengist, a lower gang member, but his alibi also checked out. Of course it could all be lies they were gang members and not to be trusted.

CSI had performed a thorough search of Edwin's house, but nothing had been touched for months, which means Edwin never made it home after he was released from court.

Unless more evidence came in or someone talked the case was at a standstill, which did not go over well with his father and was now breathing down Arthur's neck every other day.

The press was having a field day with it saying that they had no leads, which was true, and claiming the police department was incompetent and was sitting around scratching their heads, which was not true.

Arthur and Merlin still bickered and argued but had managed to find a professional tolerance for each other. For now.

Arthur was woken up again in the early hours of Friday morning.

"Arthur Pendragon."

"We have another homicide Sir"

"Where?"

"Highgate Woods, it's the same as the last one Sir."

"Right no one is allowed on the crime scene except for the forensic team."

"Don't worry Sir" Gwen replied. "I am the FOA this time and I already have the crime scene under lock down, nobody gets in or out without my say so."

"Well done Guinevere, do we have an ID yet?"

"I'm still waiting for confirmation but I am pretty sure it's Kanen Siddig"

"I'm on my way"

* * *

Jargon buster

FOA – First Officer Attending

Perp – Perpetrator

CSI – Crime Scene Investigation.

Vic – Victim

Exsanguination – death from blood loss


	3. A New Gang

**Still no beta and still don't own Merlin.**

**Just to let you know there may be a slight delay with the next chapter as the kids are off school next week, between that and work I won't have the time I would normally have to work on this. If everything goes to plan there will be 3 or 4 more chapters.**

**Big thanks to everyone who has commented and to all my followers **** and to those taking the time to read this. **

* * *

**CHAPTER 3**

**A NEW GANG**

Merlin had also received a call in the early hours of the morning. He quickly jumped in the shower for a wash to wake himself up. He tried to be as quiet as he could, he didn't want to disturb Gaius, and he even managed not to trip over anything which was a bonus for him.

However when he made it to the kitchen to grab a coffee to go, he found Gaius there waiting for him with coffee already in his hand.

"Aww Gaius did I wake you? I'm sorry"

"I heard your phone, so I thought I would make your coffee for you, I know you don't function well in the mornings without your caffeine." Gaius chucked.

Merlin dived for the coffee as soon as he knew that it was for him. "Thanks Gaius, and sorry again."

"Nonsense my boy, it wasn't that long ago that I don't remember what it's like receive calls like that, at least I can always go back to bed if I wanted too."

Gaius had retired from the force almost ten years ago, after an injury to his right leg had left him with a permanent limp and often needed to use a cane to lean on. Merlin had discovered that after his first long rant about Arthur Pendragon, Gaius had actually worked with Uther Pendragon. Not as a partner as Uther was above Gaius even then, but they did work closely with each other for a while.

Gaius only made it to Detective Sergeant, same as Merlin's current rank, but he still had an impressive reputation. Including catching a Jack the Ripper copy-cat. Gaius was the main inspiration for Merlin joining the force in the first place.

"What time will you be home tonight?" Gaius asked.

"I don't know its pub night, but I don't think it will be too late since we are having such an early start today. Are you going to your bridge club?"

"No, not tonight a couple of the lads have come down with something so we have cancelled it this week."

"Right, well I will do my best to make back for dinner tonight then, but I must go now." Merlin said, as he grabbed his phone and keys.

"Okay Merlin, see you later". Gaius said. "And be careful!" he shouted, at the same time Merlin tripped over his own shoes in his haste to get them on.

"You know me Gaius" Merlin grinned. "I'm always careful".

"That's what I'm worried about". Gaius said, as Merlin ran through the door.

* * *

The crime scene was just over four miles away from the last crime scene and was a little more secluded with it being further away from the city centre, so there was no press, but Merlin didn't think that would hold for long. At least the crime scene was already locked down and away from the eyes of the public.

Once Merlin had on his protective clothing and signed in with a patrolling officer he made his way to into the crime scene, and was pleased to note that he had beaten Arthur this time.

"Morning Gwen" He greeted, looking around the scene to see only the forensic team was about, and everyone was being extra careful this time.

"Morning Merlin" Gwen replied, looking awfully chipper given the early hours of the morning.

"What have we got this time?"

"Just a moment let Arthur catch up so I only have to go through this once." Merlin turned round to see that Arthur already approaching behind him.

"Guinevere" Arthur nodded. "Emrys"

"Well Guinevere what have we got?" Arthur asked, getting straight to the point.

"Body was found by a dog walker, the M.O appears to be the same as the previous Vic. I'm still waiting on official confirmation but I'm pretty sure that it's Kanen Siddig."

"Kanen Siddig?" Merlin asked. "Isn't he a cousin of Helios, from Mordred's inner circle?"

"Yes" Arthur confirmed.

"The files don't have any more information on him though."

"No, he wasn't my case."

"He was one of Gwaine's and Percy's" Gwen supplied, when Arthur didn't explain further, as she lead them to the body.

Kanen was left much the same way Edwin was. He was stripped, hung, and Merlin could see the blood streaking from the thighs and down over the torso. This tree was taller so Kanen's body hung higher, swinging slightly in the breeze, with the branch creaking ominously above. From where Merlin was standing he could see that Kanen also had chunks of his hair and scalp removed.

"Right, so what do you know about him then?" Merlin asked, when Arthur didn't continue.

Arthur rolled his eyes "Kanen had the unfortunate habit of beating and killing his wives."

"Wives? As in bigamy?"

"No, as in he beat and killed his first wife and then beat and killed his second wife. He got a reduced sentence for the first wife, claimed it was self-defence. I remember Gwaine being furious when he managed to get off completely the second time."

"How long ago was this?"

"Not long, a few months maybe, shortly after I was shot. As far as I am aware Mordred wasn't involved at all."

"Lance!" Arthur called. Lance was currently placing bags on the victim's hands and head to contain any trace evidence.

"Morning Arthur, Merlin, and how are we this fine brisk morning?"

"Wishing I hadn't forgotten my jacket" Merlin murmured, as he shivered. The weather wasn't too cold at the moment but there was a definite nip in the air, autumn was closing in quickly this year.

"Merlin!" Gwen scolded.

"Sorry mother" Merlin teased.

"Let's cut the chit chat shall we." Arthur snapped. "We are here to work"

"Yes Sire" Merlin mocked, with an exaggerated bow.

"Sire?" Arthur smirked. "I like that! You're learning."

"Prat" Merlin muttered.

"Kanen" Lance cut in "has the same incisions in the same places, parts of the hair and scalp has been removed same as Edwin. The footprints" Lance indicated to a series of footprints which were marked with different coloured evidence markers. "I have isolated the dog walkers and dogs in green markers, Gwen's in the yellow which means the red markers are most likely our perps."

"Do they tell us anything?" Merlin asked.

"Just that they are a size 11 shoe."

"I want impressions made, there may be trace evidence in the print." Arthur demanded "Can his shoe size give us any indication of his height?"

"Not really, based on the shoe size the height of your perp is between 5'10 and 6'3, which counts for about 75% of the male population."

"Is there a fire pit?" merlin asked, glancing around the forest floor. His eyes pin pointed the fire pit at the same time Lance pointed it out to him. Merlin bent down for a closer look and found the same canister of lighter fluid sitting on the top, looking burnt and tarnished.

"During my assessment of the crime scene I found tyre prints a few yards further down the path, the footprints also lead up to the tyre prints, the perp clearly used a vehicle to transport his victim." Gwen added.

"Really!?" Arthur exclaimed. And made his way to the prints. "I want an impression of these made too and ran through the database we may be able to find the made and model of the car."

"It might be an idea to set up a zone and quadrant search as well" Merlin pointed out "I doubt we will find anything but I would rather not miss anything".

"Right well I will let you organise that then _Mer_lin."

Merlin rolled his eyes "Of course your highness"

"Do you still think this was a gang hit?" Lance interrupted, clearly attempting to keep them focused before they could go off on one of their arguments that were now famous around HQ.

"It's looking less likely" Arthur mused. "Mordred wouldn't want this kind of attention drawn to himself and he has other methods of keeping his crew in line if he needed too."

"He's definitely connected though" Merlin insisted. "It's too much of a coincidence that both Vic's are part of his crew."

Arthur nodded, "We need to find out what links our two Vic's together, other than being in Mordred's crew."

"I will get Kanen's file from Gwaine and go through it with a fine tooth comb."

"Pull Agravaine's file too, I'm not sure who is dealing with his case at the moment but we definitely want to interview him."

"Agravaine? Why?" Merlin asked confused, unsure who Agravaine was and what he had to do with all this.

"He was the prosecuting attorney for both our Vic's. I'm going to go interview the dog walker, I doubt we will get anything from him but it's worth covering all our bases, unless you want to come and hold my hand?" Arthur mocked.

"I'm sure you can handle it, what with you being a big boy and all." Merlin said lightly "I want to get a head start on the files." He needed to read up on Kanen and Agravaine.

Arthur rolled his eyes "Meet you back at the station then" he replied as they both got into their cars not realising they had walked off while talking leaving behind a stunned Gwen and Lance.

* * *

Arthur was right the dog walker hadn't seen or heard anything. The dog walker had noticed the tyre tracks but thought nothing of it. He was in a mild state of shock but Arthur wasn't too worried, his wife was fussing and taking care of him. Arthur left his card with him anyway just in case he remembered something but thought it unlikely. Arthur knew that the perp would be too clever to be caught be a passer-by, the kills had been too carefully planned.

When Arthur made it back to the station he found Merlin elbow deep in paperwork.

"Well?" Arthur asked Merlin, who looked up and leant back in his chair before replying.

"Agravaine's case is now ours, I may have pissed a few people off in the fraud department, but now that he is suspect in a homicide we take precedence. Do you really think Agravaine is our man?"

"No" Arthur answered, "Agravaine is not the type of man to get his hands dirty like this, but he could have paid someone else to do it or our killer could have paid Agravaine to get our Vic's off."

Merlin frowned, "Who would he pay to get them off only to kill them?"

"I don't know, maybe they thought prison too good for them, or wanted them out of the way completely, it would be harder to get to them if they were in prison, or maybe they knew something and they didn't want to take the risk of them talking. There are a few possibilities."

"Are you ready? I want to go see Agravaine before news of this new murder gets out, I want to see his reaction." Arthur asked, walking off without a reply, making Merlin catch up quickly. "I have dealt with Agravaine before so let me do all the talking I know how to handle him." Arthur added missing the eye roll behind his back.

They had been made to wait for a good hour before getting in to see Agravaine, which Arthur thought was a deliberate attempt to waste time.

A whole hour that Arthur had to fight the urge to strangle Merlin by his scrawny little neck. The man could not sit still! He was constantly fidgeting, bouncing his leg or tapping his fingers. And if he wasn't doing that then he was talking, sometimes both. Filling the blissful silence with mindless chatter. Merlin eventually got the message after Arthur growled at him for the third time, but then came the huffing, tutting and sighing. Arthur prayed to God he would never have to go on a stake out with him, he wasn't sure Merlin would survive the night.

Agravaine's office was huge. He had a large oak wooden desk, rich and plush carpets, soft leather furniture and several paintings on the walls. Arthur could tell that the paintings were not antique originals but nor were they cheap knock offs. Arthur was not an art enthusiast like his mother was but he did have a good eye for detecting what was good and costly. The office was far too rich and expensive, something Agravaine could never afford at his level.

Agravaine was sat at his desk who practically oozed arrogance and sleaze. Sat in his tailor made suit and hair so thick with grease Arthur was sure even a tornado couldn't dislodge it.

However Agravaine was clearly surprised to see them, he was probably expecting the fraud detectives he had already dealt with.

"Inspector Pendragon! What a surprise, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Agravaine asked, with a heavy foreign accent, glancing at Merlin.

"This is my partner DS Emrys, we are here to ask you a few questions." Arthur introduced, taking a seat opposite Agravaine at his desk without being asked.

Arthur waited for Merlin to follow suit before replying to Agravaine, making the arrogant man squirm.

"We are investigating a homicide to which we are hoping you could give some insight with."

"Well I don't personally see how I could help you, but I will certainly try" Agravaine said, producing an oily smile.

"Where were you on the 22nd of August at 2:30 am?" Arthur asked, watching Agravaine very carefully who was now beginning to shift in his seat nervously.

"You don't honestly think that I-"

"No, I don't think you killed Edwin you don't have the back bone for it, but please answer the question."

Relief flashed across Agravaine's features "Well I'm not sure it was a couple of weeks ago, but I imagine I was in bed at that time."

"Do you have anyone who could confirm that?"

"No, as you know Inspector I live alone."

"No! Really!" Merlin interrupted from his side. "A rich handsome man like yourself still a bachelor! I find that hard to believe."

Arthur doubted that Agravaine could detect the hint of sarcasm in Merlin's voice, but having been on the receiving end of it often enough it was easy for him to detect.

Arthur didn't know what he wanted to do more, glare at Merlin for interrupting or smirk at the back handed compliment.

"Well I wouldn't say rich" Agravaine smiled, regaining his confidence.

"Oh come now" Merlin swung his arm out to indicate Agravaine's office "You clearly make a very respectable income, what woman wouldn't want a part in that?"

"Well I-" Agravaine shifted again, glancing around his office.

"How about last night? Can you tell us your movements for last night?" Arthur asked.

"Last night?" Arthur nodded "Well I was here in my office until about 8pm, then I went straight home, made some phone calls and was in bed for around midnight."

"And can anyone confirm that?" Arthur drawled already knowing the answer.

"My secretary left at around 6pm and I'm sure CCTV footage will confirm the time I left."

"But you were alone for the rest of the night?"

"Yes" Agravaine fidgeted again.

"Do you know of any explanation as to why two of your ex-clients are now dead?"

"Two?" Agravaine asked, as he raised his eyebrows.

"Yes Kanen Siddig was found dead this morning. Who also happens to be an ex-client of yours just like Edwin."

"You can't possibly think that I had something to do with that."

"Seems a bit of a coincidence to me."

"A coincidence nothing more!" Agravaine exclaimed. "I know how this works gentlemen I don't have to answer any more of your questions without my lawyer present."

"But you are a lawyer." Merlin said. "You can defend yourself, but then again with your success rate it would probably be best not to do that eh. Which again makes me ask myself how you have an office like this when you have lost most of the cases you have had."

"I have asked for my lawyer, you are not allowed to ask me anymore questions." Agravaine snapped.

"I wasn't asking you, I was merely thinking out loud." Merlin said innocently.

Arthur stood up "You know how this works Agravaine, do not leave the country, do not even leave the city or you will be arrested on the spot. Come on Merlin."

"Wow Agravaine is a right slim-ball." Merlin said once they were back in the car.

"Hmmmm" Arthur agreed. "He was also lying about being alone last night and his whereabouts on the 22nd"

"He did seem rather nervous didn't he?"

"Yes he was definitely hiding something, we should have enough for a warrant though, and we can search his office and get his bank statements and phone records."

"I'll get right on that shall I?"

"Yes please." Arthur glanced over to Merlin when he didn't get a response, to see Merlin staring at him in shock "What?"

"You said please."

"No I didn't"

"Yes you did."

"No I didn't"

"Yes you did, you said please, I didn't think you knew how"

"Shut up Merlin."

Merlin smiled at him but remained quiet. Arthur almost wanted to say something about what a good job he did with Agravaine, almost.

The meeting with Mordred and Helios was a lot less successful, neither one said very much, only answering a direct question with one word answers. Although Helios was surprised about his cousin's death he quickly composed himself and maintained a static face.

Mordred was usually intense but this time he went above that and into outright creepy. All he did was stare at Merlin. Mordred sat back with his arms crossed over his chest and did not take his eyes of Merlin once. Arthur was also pretty sure the man didn't blink once. Even Arthur felt a little creeped out by it and he was not the once being stared at.

Once he saw Mordred and Merlin together Arthur couldn't help but notice how similar the two looked. Mordred's hair was longer and was clearly a few years older but otherwise Mordred could almost pass for Merlin's double. They both had dark hair and pale skin, they were both a similar height and build. Merlin's eyes were bluer and Merlin had cheekbones that could cut glass, not that he noticed things like that about Merlin, it was just the detective in him that made him compare.

"Does he always stare at people like that?" Merlin asked, once they were back in the car.

"No" He didn't, there was something about Merlin that caught Mordred's attention and Arthur was unsure if that was a bad thing. Who was he kidding of course it was a bad thing, Mordred's a mob boss there is no way it could be a good thing.

"Maybe he likes you." Arthur suggested, trying to keep his worry out of his voice.

"Ugh, there is not enough gayness in the world to make me want Mordred." Merlin shivered.

The thought of Mordred and Merlin together made Arthur's stomach squirm, he didn't like Merlin at the best of times, but he didn't want to see him with someone as cruel as Mordred. Most of Mordred's flings usually ended up in the river.

"I am so glad its pub night tonight I really need a drink after that."

"Not scared of Mordred are you _Mer_lin?" Arthur laughed unable to resist the tease.

"No! Just a bit creeped out that's all"

"Sure you are."

"I've been thinking" Merlin said changing the subject.

"Thought I could smell something burning."

"Ha ha you're funny." Merlin replied.

"Glad you agree."

"Anyway, I was thinking what if Mordred's gang are the targets? And not the culprits?"

"Go on" Arthur encouraged he had a similar thought himself, but who would be bold enough to go after Mordred's gang? Especially when the police are on their tails.

"Right, well then it's a question of who has balls big enough for this. Right?" Merlin asked, voicing Arthur's thoughts "What if it was one of the other gangs? And this is some kind of gang war? A war that Mordred is losing?"

Arthur shook his head, "All the other gangs are small time, and we have undercover agents in some of them, they would have reported it if something like that was going on."

"Unless the undercover agents have been made and information was deliberately being kept from them."

"If they knew who the agents were, they would try to kill them or expose them in some way."

"Not necessarily, have you ever heard the term keep your friends closer and your enemy's closer. That way they could feed the agents lies and control what kind of information gets leaked back to us. We could think we know everything but actually know nothing. For example we know there are a few small gangs, what if they weren't? What if they were being organized? And where actually one big gang?"

"That would certainly make Mordred the competition" Arthur mused.

"Exactly and now they are getting rid of the competition."

"But surely we would know something if there was another big gang out there?"

"The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing people he didn't exist." Merlin quoted.

"Hmmm" Arthur hummed. As ridiculous as the idea sounded, it did have some merit. Although the thought on another big gang loose in Camelot made Arthur very uncomfortable, they were having trouble bringing down one gang never mind two! "I will pull all the reports from the undercover agents and we will comb through them and look for any anomalies"

"Great MORE paperwork." Merlin sighed.

"More paperwork" Arthur agreed, "A LOT more paperwork."

* * *

Merlin actually made it home in time for tea with Gaius that night. He felt like he had been neglecting Gaius a bit lately so it was good to spend some time with him. It was also nice to have someone to bounce his ideas off, someone with an outside perspective.

"Sorry I haven't been around much Gaius." Merlin said as they sat at the table to eat.

"Nonsense my boy, I am fairly capable, I don't need you to hold my hand all day despite what your mother thinks" Gaius chuckled.

"Yeah she does like to worry."

"How is the case going?" Gaius inquired.

"Painfully slow, our killer is good, too good. There is virtually no evidence left behind." Merlin sighed.

"What about the links between your victims?"

"There are too many at the moment, they both have ties with Mordred's gang, they both have had dealings with Agravaine and they were both known to the police. And they are just the big ones I'm sure there are more. As much as I hate to say this but we don't have much to go on until another victim turns up."

"Hmmm, what does your gut tell you?"

"That this is not going to end well. We are currently working on the theory that the smaller gangs are being organised into one and are targeting Mordred's crew."

"It would take someone very clever to organise that without causing suspicion."

"Well our killer has to be very clever to not leave any trace, it's almost the perfect crime."

"Are The Night Stalkers crew still going?"

"Yeah why?"

"They were at it in my day, they kept trying to set up brothels only most of the girls they got hold were either there against their will or because they owed The Night Stalkers money. We took most of them down but there was always someone to take their place."

"I will look into them see what I can find out."

"Murder like this wasn't really their thing, sure they would occasionally rough people up but they were more about the pleasure and such, unless they have expanded"

"Yes, but now I can compare what they did to what they do now and see how they have evolved as a gang." Merlin explained.

"Anyway enough of that how was your day?" Merlin asked. Gaius volunteered during the week in the main city library, he liked to keep his brain active and it got him out and about at the same time.

"Good, we had a new shipment today" Gaius then proceeded to describe the inner workings of the library's cataloguing system in great detail, as well as another librarian that worked there, Alice. Merlin had heard her name come up several times before.

"I think you should ask her out" Merlin interrupted after almost an hour.

"Ask?...What?..." Gaius spluttered.

"Really Gaius" Merlin smiled "You talk about her all the time, you have just spent the last half an hour at least just talking about Alice alone. It's clear you like her, you should ask her out"

"Well.…I hardly think….That's none…."

"Seriously Gaius ask her out, cook for her, if you need me out of the way just send me a text and I will give you some time alone." Merlin smiled waggling his eyebrows.

Gaius narrowed his eyes at Merlin "Aren't you supposed to be going somewhere" he snapped.

"I'm going, I'm going" Merlin laughed, as he got up to put his plates away, "But seriously Gaius think about it I think you should ask her out, it sounds like she likes you too." Merlin said more seriously.

* * *

Merlin arrived at the pub and sat in his usual spot at their usual table, for some reason he was always the last to arrive, but that also meant there was a beer already waiting for him at the table saving him from having to queue up at the busy bar.

Conversation was already in full flow though several paused to greet him. Expect for Gwaine who was leant back with his arms crossed over his chest, glaring at Merlin. Merlin could see a glint in Gwaine's eye so he wasn't worried that Gwaine was angry at him for something but he was worried about what he was up too.

"What?" Merlin asked, after taking a long pull from his beer.

"I have a bone to pick with you Merlin"

"What?" Merlin repeated.

Gwaine flicked his over his shoulder, making Merlin smile, and leant forward to rest on his elbows.

"Do you know how many times I have been called L'Oreal over the last few weeks?"

Merlin smiled "Don't dish it if you can't take it." Merlin laughed.

"Oh I can take it, the question is, can you Merlin?"

"Why? Have you finally come up with a nickname for me?" Merlin said, noticing that the rest of the table had gone quiet to listen in.

"I'm working on it. But I did warn you that I would get you back" Gwaine smiled cheekily.

"I don't have anything to hide" Merlin said confidently.

"Oh really" Gwaine said smugly, producing a large envelope from the seat beside him, that Merlin missed when he came in.

"What's that?" Merlin asked starting to feel nervous, he genuinely couldn't think of anything it could be, but the smug look on Gwaine's face was a cause for concern.

"This my friend" Gwaine slowly withdrew an item from the envelope "Is payback" he announced before tossing the item in front of Merlin.

Merlin looked down and felt his jaw drop in horror at what he was looking at. In front of him was a photo, a photo of him wrestling a cow in a café and losing. Merlin was behind the cow pushing with all his might trying to get the cow to budge and receiving a face full of tail for his efforts. Moments before the cow had left a present on floor and the photo had captured Merlin in mid-slip perfectly, making it clear where his face was about to end up.

"What?...How?" Merlin spluttered.

"Aw now look at that" Gwaine gloated. "I never knew anyone's face could turn so red. Really highlights those sweet cheek bones of yours" Gwaine gasped "That shall be your new nickname 'Sweet Cheeks'"

"Sweet Cheeks" Merlin squeaked with growing horror.

"Would you rather me go with Pat face? Pat? Betsie? Seriously, I can think of a dozen cow related names."

"No, no" Merlin squeaked again, before clearing his throat "Sweet cheeks will be fine"

Merlin glanced up to see everyone leant over the table trying to get a good look at the photo. He looked to Gwen beside him to find her with her hand over her mouth attempting to stifle her giggles. Merlin quickly screwed up the photo and shoved it into his pocket.

Those that hadn't seen it properly groaned. "Oh don't worry" Gwaine soothed "I have copies" and proceeded to pull out several more copies of the photo and handed them around. Merlin groaned and attempted to hide his face in his beer and block out the laughter.

* * *

Monday morning saw Arthur in his father's office for their weekly meeting.

"I see you have _finally_ taken over Agravaine's case" Uther stated.

"Yes Sir."

"Took you long enough"

"I couldn't go straight after him, not after the Edwin fiasco. It would have looked like it was a personal vendetta. And you know Morgana would have printed it that way, there is no way I would have been able to do it discreetly either. The woman is like a dog with a bone sometimes."

"Yes, she is both a blessing and a curse" Uther sighed. "Shame. She would have made a damn fine officer." Uther said with a hint of pride that Arthur had never heard directed at him.

Arthur gritted his teeth and tried to ignore the implication that he wasn't a good officer simply because he wasn't Morgana. In Uther's eyes the only thing Morgana had ever done wrong was to go into Journalism, not that you would think that given the way those two argued at times. Morgana refused to accept Uther and Uther did everything in his power to get it, whether she wanted him too or not.

"I'm actually surprised that we managed to keep Kanen's murder secret for a whole day."

"Do you have any suspects yet?"

"A few" Arthur admitted, he then explained Merlin's second gang theory.

"You mean there is another gang loose in my city?!" Uther shouted.

"It's a possibility."

"And just how long has this been going on?" Uther demanded.

"We don't know for sure yet, it's still just a theory at the moment, we are still looking into it."

"Make sure you let me know as soon as you find something. This was your partner's idea? Melvin?"

"Merlin" Arthur corrected automatically.

"It seems the extra eyes and hands are proving useful after all."

Arthur rolled his eyes at the 'I told you so'. "Agravaine is a suspect too." Arthur added trying to get back onto the main topic. He didn't want to talk about Merlin.

"What were your findings on him?"

"I don't think he is the perp but he I think he is involved, both victims have connections with him plus he was already suspected of taking bribes from Mordred's gang, he is the main link. And he is defiantly hiding something, he was uncomfortable and shifted in his seat a lot when we asked him his whereabouts. And for someone who loses more cases than he changes his socks his office is extremely posh and expensive, far above his pay grade."

"Very well I will process your search warrants it will take a few days for the Judge to sign them."

"Yes Sir." Arthur replied, hiding his annoyance that his father wanted to check his findings first before processing the warrants.

"I will expect your report by the end of the week"

"Yes Sir." Arthur replied and followed the unspoken dismissal.

* * *

Arthur and Merlin spent the rest of the day tracking down files and reports from the undercover agents, before going to see Lance and Leon. Some of the agents had been under for a couple of years so there was a lot of files to trace.

Arthur entered the lab to find Merlin already there chatting away with Lance and Leon, he was expecting it this time, but he still scowled at the lack of professionalism displayed.

"What have you got Lance?" He asked, breaking up the gossip session.

"Not much I'm afraid Arthur." Lance replied, as he moved over to the corpse on the examination table. "It's all pretty much the same as the last Vic."

"Nothing at all?" Arthur sighed, letting his shoulders sag.

"The Vic has the same incisions" Lance replied indicating to each wound on the body. "He has been scalped the same, has the same ligature marks, same fibres on the face and has the same drugs in his system."

"What about the drugs? What are they? Are they difficult to get hold off?" Merlin asked.

"They are standard animal tranquilisers, and a heavy dose at that, most likely to compensate for being used on a human being rather than an animal. They are not something your everyday civilian can get a hold off, but they are not too difficult to get for someone who really wants them either. Some drug dealers have been known to deal with animal tranquilisers."

"What about the foot prints and tyre tracks?" Arthur asked.

Lance nodded "There were traces of gravel in the prints. I asked CSI to obtain samples of ground around Kanen's home and it was a match. But all that means is that the perp was outside Kanen's house at some point."

"So Kanen was either taken from inside or outside his house." Arthur concluded.

"CSI didn't report any signs of a struggle inside the house or any forced entry" Merlin said.

Arthur rolled his eyes "If he is shooting them with a tranquiliser gun, he can shoot from a distance, so there wouldn't be any evidence of a struggle _Mer_lin."

"The tyre tracks belongs to a Ford Fiesta Estate." Lance added.

"Great! There is probably thousands of those in Camelot."

"And that's assuming your perp hasn't switched the tyres with another car, which is a possibility."

"Did the perp make any attempt to hide the body?" Leon asked.

"No. None. They were both found in semi-public areas." Arthur answered.

Leon nodded. "He is leaving them on display then, showing them off, as if he is proud of what he has done."

"What does that mean?" Merlin asked.

"It means" Leon said gravely. "He is not going to stop until he is caught."

* * *

Both Merlin and Arthur spent days going through file reports from the agents, while they were waiting for the search warrants for Agravaine. They were looking for any patterns or anything out of the ordinary, well out of the ordinary for a gang at least.

Merlin had paperwork covering every inch of his tiny desk and on the floor space around it, along with several empty coffee cups, his desk was too small for this kind of work. Merlin finally thinks he is starting to see a pattern, but he needs to run it by Arthur to confirm his suspicions.

They had gotten on reasonably well over the last few days. Not as well as he gets on with everyone else but their working relationship was improving. Arthur also had a good laugh over the cow picture, but called a halt to the teasing when Gwaine started to take it too far, for which Merlin was very grateful for. There was a small part of Merlin that liked to think that Arthur was trying to defend his honour without making it obvious, a very small part.

Merlin walked into Arthur's office without knocking, he never did, he didn't see why he should considering it was supposed to be his office too.

"Knocking Merlin, have you ever heard of it?" Arthur huffed.

"I think I have something" he announced, ignoring Arthur's question, with his files in hand.

Arthur looked up from his files and smiled tightly "Me too"

"Really? Okay you first, mine will take a bit of explaining." Merlin said as he made himself comfortable opposite Arthur.

"A name."

"A name? What name?"

"There is a name that keeps popping up, most of the time it's only in passing and means nothing significant, but the name appears in reports from all of the undercover agents." Arthur said smugly, like he had just found the key to the treasure.

"Who's name?"

"Nimueh" Arthur smiled.

"Nimueh?" Arthur nodded. "Shit I think I have seen that name once or twice."

If anything Arthur looked even smugger because he had found something Merlin didn't. "I have tried looking her up, but she is nowhere to be found it's like she doesn't exist, so that means it's either a false name or she has had her files erased."

"That will be The Red Ghosts then." Merlin mused.

"Sorry? Care to explain that?" Arthur asked with a frown.

Merlin shifted around some of Arthur's paperwork on his desk, ignoring Arthur's annoyed look. He placed his three files down. "Right well we have three gangs, correct?" Arthur nodded. "There is The Red Ghosts, The Untamed and The Night Stalkers. Each gang specialises in their own thing. Imagine they were a company each gang would be a different department." Merlin looked up to make sure Arthur was following.

"Okay" Arthur nodded.

"The Red Ghosts deals with all the fraud, computer hacking, money laundering, forgery and so on. They are the brains behind it all, the money making department or finance if you will. The Untamed are the muscle behind it all or security, they deal with all the violent stuff, murder, battery, arson, theft. The Night Stalkers run the brothels, prostitution ring, drugs, drink they are the entertainment side of things, well entertainment for them anyway."

"Right" Arthur said, still slightly confused.

"The point is they are all organised. The gangs don't cross into each other's territory or department, The Red Ghosts don't deal with murder, that's a job for The Untamed, and if someone in The Night Walkers needs a fake ID or something then The Red Ghosts provides it. For example if we have, let's say Mr Smith, Mr Smith is in The Red Ghosts, if he fucks up he disappears without a trace according the reports, but he will then pop up in the reports for The Untamed. If Mr Smith does something good for them then he will be rewarded and sent to The Night Walkers for a good time. They are organised, each gang has its job and place and when you put it all together it's one perfect well-oiled machine. And if this Nimueh is popping up in all three gangs odds are she's at the top, and clever enough not to get noticed. Does that make sense?" Merlin asked looking at the deep concentration on Arthur's face.

"Oddly enough" Arthur nodded slowly "It does, you have managed to profile them and worked out all their M.O.s" Arthur took in a deep breath, "As much as I hate to say this I'm impressed."

Merlin beamed "We make a good team"

"Well I wouldn't go that far _Mer_lin, your still annoying" Arthur said, but not unkindly as Merlin could see the corners of Arthur mouth tugging up slightly.

"And your still a Prat" Merlin laughed.

"Make sure you put all this in your report. Now all we need to do is figure how there are connected to our murders."

"If they are involved it will be someone in The Untamed doing it."

"And how Agravaine figures into it." Arthur nodded.

"Maybe it's not Mordred paying him off, maybe it's Nimueh's lot, putting their targets back on the streets so they can go after them."

"Maybe," Arthur Agreed. "The warrants should come through any day now so at least we can through his bank statements and phone records. Hopefully we will find something there."

"We just need enough to bring him in, I think he will crack easily enough in interrogation."

"Yes I'm looking forward to that part" Arthur laughed. "We both need to go through every inch of his files, he's a prosecutor and knows the legal system I don't want him throwing us any nasty surprises."

"Yes Sir" Merlin said cheekily. Excited that Arthur had listened to him and agreed with him but best of all Merlin had impressed him. Merlin was beginning to worry that Arthur genuinely didn't like him but Arthur was finally starting to accept him, it had taken almost a month but Merlin had finally made a break through. And now their case was finally coming together, things can only get better. He hoped.

* * *

The warrants finally came through and after a couple more days they finally had a copy of Agravaine's bank statements and phone call history. Merlin was dealing with the phone records while Arthur went through his bank statements in order to save to time, it felt like they had already wasted enough and were both eager to move forward.

Merlin noticed that a call was made on the same night of the murders and on several other occasions. So Merlin did what any good detective would do, he called it.

"Valiant" A rough voice answered. "This better be good I'm busy" Merlin could hear noises in the back ground but was unable to make them out.

"Hi, I'm calling on behalf Agravaine de Bois" Merlin said, making a note of the other man's name.

The other man, Valiant, gave a huge sigh "Agravaine can't keep doing this, the boss lady is already losing her patience with him."

"Ah well you know Agravaine" Merlin said, picking up on the disgruntled theme, "Thinks he's a law onto himself that one."

"Make sure you tell him that this is the last time, his position isn't strong enough to abuse like this" Valiant growled.

"I will make sure he gets the message." Merlin said as sincerely as he could hoping to gain favour with Valiant.

"Same time same place?" Valiant asked with a huff.

"Same time same place" Merlin agreed.

"Same girl?"

"Same girl" Merlin grinned to himself. The call cut off, but it didn't matter Merlin knew Agravaine had called for a call girl or prostitute for both nights of the murders. Which means he wasn't alone, which means he lied, which means they have enough to bring him in.

Merlin marched into Arthur's office "Did Agravaine make any transactions on the night of the murders?"

"Yes he withdrew a large amount of cash from the cash machine on Queens Street, but that doesn't mean anything he cou-"

"That's on the same street as The Castle Hotel isn't it?"

"Yes, why?"

"I know that Agravaine wasn't alone" Merlin said, striding over to Arthur's phone. "He paid for a girl, now we just need to find where he had the girl."

"Hello yes, can you put me through to The Castle Hotel in Camelot please." Merlin covered the speaker part of the phone. "Does the name Valiant mean anything to you?" he whispered to Arthur.

Arthur frowned and quickly shifted through his papers "Hello yes" Merlin continued into the phone.

"My name Detective Sergeant Merlin Emrys, I need you to tell me if an Agravaine de Bois checked in with you on the 22nd of August and the 5th of September."

"I don't think I'm allowed to give out that information sir, its confidential." A young woman replied.

"It's not confidential when it's relevant to a homicide." Merlin said hotly, he didn't want to be messed around not when they were so close. "Do I need to speak to your manager? Or better yet I can always prosecute you for obstructing our investigation." Merlin glanced to find Arthur raising an eyebrow at him.

"No, No, please don't do that" the young woman answered. "Just…..Just let me check okay"

Merlin sighed, "Not bullying the staff are you Merlin?" Arthur chuckled.

"Shut up" Merlin mumbled, trying to prevent a slight blush from raising, and failing.

"Gwaine's right you do blush easily, sweet cheeks." Arthur laughed quietly.

"Hello" the young woman came back.

"Yes I'm here."

"Agravaine de Bois is a regular here and he did check in on the 22nd and on the 5th."

"Excellent" Merlin beamed. "What times did he check in and out?"

"He checked in at 9pm and checked out at 8am the following mornings on both dates."

"Fantastic thank you. Do you know if he was alone?"

"Sorry Sir but that kind of information isn't recorded, so I have no way of knowing."

"Okay never mind, make another booking Agravaine for tonight forward any expenses to me."

"I-"

Merlin hung up the phone "We have him." He beamed. "Not only was he not at home, where he said he was he was not alone, he lied twice."

"How do you know about the girl?" Arthur asked.

"I called some of the numbers on his phone records, one of them led me to valiant, who asked if Agravaine wanted the same time, same place and the same girl. I may have accidentally made him an appointment for tonight, which means we can intercept the girl and bring her in too."

Merlin was grinning after weeks of work it was all falling into place.

"Valiant" Arthur informed. "Is mentioned once or twice in the reports from The Night Stalkers, which means we have tied him to the gang too." Arthur grinned back, "Not to mention that someone is making regular deposits into his bank, unfortunately they are from an unnamed, untraceable account and could be for any reason, but I would like to see Agravaine explain it."

"We got enough to bring him in right?"

"Yes. Let's go get him."

"You have arrested someone before haven't you?" Arthur asked, as Merlin rushed for the door unable to contain his excitement.

"Of course I have" Merlin replied, he wasn't going to tell Arthur that it was mainly his cousin, Will, having had a few too many and had to cool off in the drunk tank, which was Merlin's payback for the cow.

* * *

Arresting Agravaine felt good, really good. Arthur let Merlin make the actual arrest he was so excited he didn't have the heart to take it away from him, besides he could do with the experience. Despite what Merlin said Arthur had the feeling Merlin hadn't really arrested anyone before.

They threw Agravaine into an interrogation room and left him there.

"Leave him there for a good hour before we question him, it will make him nervous and impatient and more likely to slip up." Arthur instructed to Percy.

"Do you want G.G to wait in the room with him? All he would need to is stand there and stare at him and Agravaine will fall like a deck of cards." Gwaine asked.

"I don't think that will be necessary, but I will bare it in mind, just in case." Arthur laughed.

"Your choice princess." Gwaine shrugged.

"Turn the room temperature down a little bit, it will put him more on edge, we don't want to make him too comfortable". Merlin added.

"Do it" Arthur instructed. "Go get lunch and meet back here in an hour. Fill a couple of boxes with blank papers and put our files on top, it will make him think we have more on him than we have."

"On it" Merlin called, and dashed off. Arthur made his way to his office to prepare his interrogation notes, but it wasn't twenty minutes later before he was interrupted.

"Arthur!" Gwaine shouted, as he barged into his office looking a bit harassed.

"What? What is it?"

"Agravaine!"

"What about him?" Arthur asked, dreading what was about to come out of Gwaine's mouth.

"I'm sorry Arthur, but we have had to let Agravaine go."

"What! Why!" Arthur shouted standing up.

"He has Diplomatic Immunity."

"He has what? Why the hell didn't he say that when we were bringing him in? Why the hell didn't we know about it?" Arthur shouted running his hands through his hair.

"Now he is going to sue the police department for detaining him unlawfully, I suspect that's why. I need to warn you Arthur your father has found out and he is on his way down."

"Fuck!" Arthur started to pace.

"Just thought I would give you a heads up" Gwaine said, before quickly making his exit. Nobody wanted to be in the way when Uther Pendragon was on the war path.

Diplomatic Immunity! How the fuck did they miss that, they went through everything with a fine tooth comb and nothing about Diplomatic Immunity came up, not once. Arthur thought running his hands through his hair. Now the best they can do is deport him and maybe report him to Interpol, who will keep an eye on him for a while. But he would still be able to walk for now.

Sure enough a few moments later his father stormed into his office slamming the door behind him.

"How could you be so careless Arthur?!" Uther shouted.

"I wasn't, I checked everything!" Arthur retorted.

"Well clearly you missed something" Uther sneered. "This is something that should have come up at the very beginning, you missed it, because you were careless. I expected better of you Arthur."

"I didn't miss anything! We went through everything twice!"

"Damn it Arthur you have made a mockery of this department, of the entire police force and most importantly you have disgraced the Pendragon name." Uther ranted ignoring Arthur's words.

"It didn't come up because it wasn't there, it's got to be a forgery, I swear."

"Maybe it was too early to bring you back into work." Uther insulted.

"What? No I'm fine. I'm telling you it wasn't there, we went through _everything_"

"Well you were wrong! I now have to go clean up your mess, the press are going to have a field day with this. You better make sure something like this doesn't happen again." Uther growled. "Don't think I won't put you on probation just because you are my son."

"Probation?!" Arthur's jaw dropped, "I hardly think-"

"You are incapable of thinking at the moment, get your head out the clouds and into the job Arthur." Uther said as he left his office slamming the door again, leaving a stunned and fuming Arthur.

* * *

Merlin heard the shouting coming from Arthur's office, hell he was sure the entire building could hear the shouting. He ducked his head down when Uther stormed back out not wanting to make eye contact and directing Uther's anger at himself.

He started to pull out Agravaine's file again, determined to find evidence of the Diplomatic Immunity, when Arthur stormed out of his office with his jacket scrunched in his hand.

"Where are you going?" Merlin asked concerned.

"To the firing range, I need to shoot something." Arthur snapped.

Merlin left it an hour before following him, giving him the chance to cool off and vent some of his frustration.

He had heard rumours about Uther Pendragon but never truly believed them. He didn't think he would be like that with his own son. It certainly went a long way to explain Arthur's attitude and why Arthur was so closed off to everyone. Very few people got into Arthur's close circle of friends and even fewer who got into his head and understood him, Gwaine being one of them, but even then Arthur kept him at a distance.

Arthur's prattishness was the need to show off, like a child desperate for attention from the one person who was unwilling to give it.

When he got to the firing range he could see that Arthur had already gone through several dozen clips and there were several targets sheets that now resembled Swiss cheese.

Merlin just stood beside him for a while, not saying a word. He knew that Arthur would speak when he was good and ready.

"How the hell did we miss that Merlin?" Arthur asked quietly, half an hour later.

"We didn't"

"Then how do you explain it then?" Arthur snapped before emptying another clip.

"The Red Ghosts." Merlin said simply.

Arthur froze. "You mean the gang? So it is a forgery?" Merlin nodded. Arthur sighed, "By the time we prove that Agravaine will be long gone." Arthur reloaded his gun.

"I don't think he is going to get far Arthur" Merlin said gently.

"You think Agravaine is going to become our next victim?"

"Yes. Valiant said that the boss lady was losing patience with him, and now they have just had to bail him out, we would have cracked him easily and I think they know that. That makes him a loose cannon, a loose end they need to tie up." Merlin paused while Arthur started shooting again. "I think Agravaine knows it too, we have already lost eyes on him, so we can't wire him up or put him in protective custody, I don't think he would be willing too anyway."

"So what? We just wait for him to turn up swinging from a tree?"

"Unless we can find him first, which is unlikely, the gang knows everything we do about Agravaine. Not to mention that you won't get an officer to go within a mile of him due the 'Diplomatic Immunity." Merlin said, making air quotations when he said Diplomatic Immunity.

"God Damn it" Arthur shouted and emptied the rest of his clip. "I literally hung him out to dry." Arthur panted once he was done.

"It's not your fault Arthur." Merlin said, gently.

"Then why does it feel like it is?" Arthur snapped.

"I think we both know the answer to that, but he's wrong and so are you"

"What do you know _Mer_lin" Arthur grumbled.

"I know enough, I know that you have worked really hard this last month, we both have. I know that we have worked out more in this last month than several undercover agents have altogether, and some of them have been under for a good year or two. And I know that you will stop at nothing until this case is solved. I know that you care, you don't like to show it, but you care about what happens to people, even people like Agravaine."

"Then why do I feel like nothing I do is ever good enough?"

Merlin looked into Arthur's face and saw it open and vulnerable, despite all of Arthur's attitude towards him, it was not a look he liked on Arthur, it made Merlin want to curl his arms around him and protect him from everything. That thought alone took Merlin by surprise, he knew he was attracted to Arthur but this was something else. Merlin decided to examine that thought later, now was not the time.

Merlin knew he had to say the right thing, otherwise Arthur will close off to him for good. "Your father has problems, problems he can't or won't deal with, and because he doesn't deal with them he lashes out, sadly you are often the nearest target. It doesn't mean he loves any less, it just means he can't deal, he's human not perfect, and we all have our issues. Just don't make his problems your problems."

Arthur was quiet for several moments absorbing what Merlin had said and thinking it over. "When did you get so wise Merlin?" Arthur croaked, looking away.

"Me? I've always been wise you just never noticed." Merlin laughed gently. He was rewarded with a small genuine smile from Arthur, possibly the first real smile he's seen from Arthur.

"So what are your issues then?"

"My issues?"

Arthur nodded, "You said 'we all have our issues' what are yours?"

Merlin thought about brushing it off or making light of it, but since he'd seen Arthur so open he thought it was only fair he shared a bit. "Coming out was a big issue for me."

"You're Gay?" Arthur interrupted.

"Yes Arthur, I'm gay." Merlin rolled his eyes, honestly he thought everyone knew that by now.

"I didn't know that"

Merlin smiled "There's a lot about me you don't know" throwing Arthur's earlier words back at him. "It's not a problem is it?"

"No, no, no problem with it." Arthur said quickly.

"Anyway," Merlin continued, "Coming out was a big deal for me, we lived in a small town where everyone knew each other and where practically living in each other's back gardens, you couldn't do anything without everyone knowing about it. I worked myself up into such a frenzy I actually thought they wouldn't let me join the police force because of it."

"Hmmm"

Merlin sighed knowing he had to come clean "And I guess if I'm completely honest I have my own daddy issues too."

Arthur's head snapped up "Really?"

"Mmm, my dad disappeared when mum found out she was pregnant with me, or I guess ran off is the more appropriate term. Mum came home one day to find his draws and closet cleared out, the only thing he left behind was a note that said one word 'Sorry', no explanation of why and where just sorry. And we haven't heard from him since."

"Have you ever considered looking him up?"

"Of course, but I'm not sure I want too, I mean what kind of man runs out on his pregnant girl, they were never married, and never bothers to contact them, never looking up his kid. I don't need a man like that in my life. I have mum, she has me, it might have been hard at times but we got by, as long as we had each other that was all that mattered."

They both stood in silence for a while both lost in their own thoughts, until Arthur broke the silence "Merlin?"

"Hmm"

"Thank you."

Merlin smiled. "Anytime Arthur."

Arthur took a deep breath "Go get some rest Merlin, tomorrow we start looking for Agravaine, as hopeless as it is I am still going to try."

"I know Arthur, see you in the morning." And Merlin left, leaving a much calmer Arthur to his guns.

* * *

The call came the following morning, much quicker than either of them expected, Arthur was awake instantly.

"Is it Agravaine?" Arthur asked, instead of hello.

"We don't know Sir" Guinevere replied.

"What?" How can they not know? Everyone knew what Agravaine looked like.

"The responding FOA won't allow anyone onto the scene until the lead investigator arrives."

"Who is the FOA?"

"Cedric Brown Sir."

"Text me the details, I'm on my way." Arthur growled.

When Arthur arrived on to the scene, he found it taped off with a large crowd of people outside it, including Merlin, a bunch of officers and forensic team which in turn alerted the public that something was going on, which in turn alerted the press and Morgana. Arthur approached the scene and the crowd parted for him leaving Cedric in the middle.

Arthur saw Merlin smirking and shaking his head in the corner of his eye at the response, but he ignored it. "Cedric" Arthur said slow and menacing. "Care to explain why you have turned my crime scene into a side show."

"Well Sir," Cedric swallowed thickly "After last time, I didn't want to take any chances."

"You can't really blame him for that Arthur" Merlin chuckled.

"Stop defending him" Arthur snapped, not taking his eyes off Cedric. "You're supposed to let the forensic team and the other detectives through. We can't do anything until forensics has swept the place, you should know this it's basic procedure, if you had learnt it there wouldn't be any chances to take." Arthur gritted out, trying desperately to keep his calm with the man. "Let the forensics through, let Merlin through let the people who should be in there through and set up your perimeter before I put you on probation." Arthur ordered before marching through the tape so that Cedric would have to fix it.

As Arthur got close to the body he knew straight away it was Agravaine, what was left of his black greasy hair was hanging down limply. "It's him" Merlin agreed, as he came up to his side. "It's still not your fault Arthur" Merlin said quietly, so that no one could hear.

Not that anyone was focused on them, everyone was focused on the body. "It doesn't change the fact that there is a killer out there." He still felt responsible.

Merlin nodded but didn't reply, there was nothing he could say.

"It's going to be a little while before I can tell you anything Arthur" Lance said from where he was setting up.

Arthur glanced up at the sky and saw the dark clouds forming above. "Alright people listen up" he shouted. "It's about to rain at any moment, so I want an evidence tent set up and my crime scene protected and under cover before the rain washes everything away." Arthur paused "We officially have a serial killer on our hands, so I don't need to tell you to be careful what you say, to who you say."

Arthur turned around just in time to see the flash bulb of Morgana's fancy camera flash before his eyes. Arthur quickly strode over and snatched her camera, quickly ejecting the memory card.

"You shouldn't be here Morgana, this is a closed crime scene" Arthur growled.

"CEDRIC!"


	4. A New MO

**Still no Beta, Still don't own.  
**

**My plot has expanded a little so there may be an extra chapter or two.**

**Killer will be revealed in the next chapter.**

* * *

**CHAPTER 4**

**A NEW M.O**

"People are calling him The Hunter."

Arthur looked up from his paperwork to see Merlin leant against his door frame, with a newspaper in his hand.

"What? Who is calling who what now?" Arthur frowned.

"Everyone." Merlin replied, handing Arthur the paper taking a seat opposite him.

"They are calling him The Hunter because he kills his victims like animals hung up for the slaughter."

Across the front page of the paper was the headlines, courtesy of Morgana 'The Hunter Strikes Again'. Morgana hadn't spoken to him for three days since he took her camera, but he was well within his rights and Morgana knew she shouldn't have crossed the line, she only had herself to blame.

"Surely The Farmer would be a more accurate name based on your description"

"Yes, but The Farmer doesn't have the same ring to it does it?"

"No I guess not."

"So where does this leave us now? Agravaine was our main link" Merlin asked.

"We need to find a way into this gang without them knowing. We need more information about this Nimueh, a picture would be a start, we don't even know what she looks like."

"One of the undercover agents may be able to snap a photo with their phone or something. Do you really think this gang is responsible for our murders?"

"I don't know, but it's the only lead we have at the moment," Arthur admitted "Until evidence comes up with something that says otherwise. Lance should be ready for us in a bit."

"I know Lance texted me earlier." Arthur rolled his eyes, of course he did.

"There was something about Agravaine that didn't quiet sit right though." Arthur said.

"What's that?"

"If he was working for Nimueh why did he get Edwin and Kanen off when they worked for Mordred?"

"Huh….Maybe he was working for both gangs, or took any bribe that came along. Valiant did say that his position wasn't a strong one maybe that's why. Do we have anything from Agravaine's office yet?"

"No, we can't touch anything until we have proved that the Diplomatic Immunity was a forgery even if he is de-"

"Knock, Knock Princess" Gwaine called, as he entered and knocked at the same time. Glancing at Merlin and grinning. "Hope I'm not interrupting anything" He said, as he came to stand behind Merlin in the chair, putting both hands onto Merlin's shoulders and leaning forward slightly "Then again I hope I am" squeezing Merlin's shoulders.

"What do you want Gwaine?" Arthur growled, narrowing his eyes at Gwaine's hands

"I'm just checking your both coming to the pub tomorrow, neither one of you came last week."

"We were busy, working, you may not be familiar with the term."

"And here I thought that you two had shacked up somewhere, though I am happy to be proven wrong in this case." Gwaine said, giving Merlin's shoulders another squeeze, making Arthur grit his teeth. Why does Merlin have to be so damn popular? They can't get any work done without people fawning over him.

"Don't be ridiculous Gwaine." Arthur huffed, while Merlin rolled his eyes in Arthur's direction.

"What's ridiculous about it? Sweet cheeks here is a fine catch, if only he would stay still long enough for me to catch him." Arthur's stomach clenched.

"You wish Gwaine" Merlin teased, grinning up at him.

"Ah that I do sweet cheeks, every night" Gwaine laughed and winked.

"I'm sure Percy would be thrilled to hear that" Arthur threatened.

"Percy and I have an understanding." Gwaine grinned.

"Get lost Gwaine, Merlin and I have work to do, come on Merlin Lance is expecting us." Arthur growled as he got up and pushed past a laughing Gwaine.

"If you two must flirt can you at least keep it out of the office?" Arthur Growled at Merlin, as they made their way to Lance's lab.

"What? I wasn't flirting."

"Could have fooled me" Arthur snorted.

"What's Percy and Gwaine's understanding?"

"That he is allowed to flirt, not that anyone can stop Gwaine from flirting, but he is not allowed to touch. Sorry to disappoint you Merlin."

"What!? I am not interested in Gwaine!"

"Sure you're not" Arthur said sarcastically.

"Not jealous are you Arthur?" Merlin teased.

"Don't be ridiculous _Mer_lin"

"Is that your favourite word today?" Merlin laughed, pushing Lance's door open.

Both Lance and Leon where standing besides Agravaine's body, deep in discussion, when they entered the room. "Please tell me you have something Lance"

"There is something" Lance nodded "Although I'm not sure how much help it will be at this point."

"Anything would help."

"He didn't use a tranquiliser dart this time, he used a hypodermic needle, the remains of it was found partially melted in the fire pit. There was less drugs in his system too, which means he was at least semi-conscious, not conscious enough to struggle and put up a fight but enough to be aware of what was happening."

"Is he devolving? Losing control?" Arthur asked, running a hand through his hair. That was sort of good news, if the perp was losing control he is more likely to slip up and make a mistake, but in order for that to happen he would have to kill again leaving them another victim.

"Normally I would say yes" Leon answered, "But in this case it feels different. Your perp has a great deal of control. He has full control of the victim and the scene and is still leaving no trace of evidence. If anything I would say he is getting more confident, the timeline is decreasing, there was two weeks between your first two victims, but it was less than two weeks between the second and third, if he continues at this rate you can expect the fourth victim in a few days, a week at the most."

"So what does the change in M.O mean?" Merlin asked.

"If he is using a needle he has to get up close and personal, giving him a further element of control. The fact that his victim may have been aware…..I would say he is gaining more pleasure or satisfaction from it." Leon paused. "I strongly believe that the signature are the incisions, or rather the amount of them. They are the only thing that is unnecessary"

"Surely the hanging and the hair are unnecessary" Merlin exclaimed.

"Not really" Leon said. "The hanging is him exercising his control of the victim and the scene, the hair and scalp is his trophy as for the incisions he only needs to do one to ensure death the other four are unnecessary, making it his signature."

"We also found the same foot and tyre tracks." Lance added, "However I did also find skin cells from the previous Vic's in Agravaine's hair and face. Which means if he is wrapping them in a blanket he is using the same one."

Arthur paced running his hand through his hair "This doesn't help, this just gives us more of the same. Only now he is getting more sadistic." All this case was doing was giving them more questions and no answers, he needed answers. "Leon what do you know about serial killers?"

"MOST serial killers have three things in common, Arson, bedwetting and harming animals," Leon parroted as if reading from a text book, "The Arson is already evident in this case, in most cases the bedwetting and harming animals happens during early childhood. But they also choose their victims with precise specifications."

"Okay" Merlin said "Let's forget about the perp and the evidence for now and look at the victims, why these victims? Why now?"

"Edwin was your first Vic, correct?" Leon asked.

"Yeah."

"Yes" Merlin and Arthur replied.

"Then he's your trigger, he is the one that set your perp off in the first place. So why him? What makes him stand out?"

"Edwin's case was huge" Arthur answered. "He took almost two years to bring down, he shot me, he was in every newspaper, he killed kids, and he had ties to a gang. With the exception of the gang ties he stands out in a lot of ways."

They all stood in silence for a few moments, staring blankly in different directions.

"He shot you!" Merlin exclaimed, almost as if he had just realised it.

"Yes Merlin, I was there I remember."

"Prat" Merlin huffed "What I meant was he was a big case and in every paper _because_ he shot you _and_ because he got away with it. And he got away with the drug dealing too, Kanen got away with killing his wife, Agravaine took bribes and let a lot of guilty people walk and would have got away with it."

"A vigilante?" Arthur queried.

"A twisted one, but yes a vigilante. It's the main link. They have all committed crimes and got away with it, think about it, even you said earlier that Agravaine didn't quite sit right with our gang theory"

"That would mean Nimueh is not responsible for this."

"No," Merlin agreed "I mean she still needs dealing with but if anything she is a target, Mordred too"

"Maybe not Nimueh, at least not yet. We only found out about her last week, what are the odds that this vigilante knows about her?"

Merlin nodded "Most people know about Mordred so that would make him a more likely target."

"These cases weren't exactly confidential and Edwin and Agravaine were all over the papers but Kanen wasn't so whoever is doing this must have access to the Vic's criminal records or knows someone who does" Arthur said.

"All cases did go to court though so it could be anyone within the legal system or who reads the papers."

"It's a long shot I know but it's something, if we go through all the records and check all the names for anyone who attended more than one case, jury's, transcribers, security guards even reporters and witness's anyone, that could have in the courtroom or around the arrest at the time, anyone at all." Arthur actually had a good feeling about this, this felt right, they were on to something he knew it.

"What about the body dump sites? We got Regent's park, Highgate wood and Queen's wood." Merlin asked. "Highgate and Queens are very close to each other whereas Regent's park is a good four miles away."

"Maybe he didn't like the media attention he got in Regent's park" Arthur thought "I will set up extra patrols for the Highgate and Queens area, if we are to expect another body in the next few days we might get lucky and catch him in the act."

"It's about time we had some luck with this case" Merlin agreed.

They both turned around to see Lance and Leon looking at them strangely.

"What?"

"What?"

They both asked in unison. "Do they do that a lot?" Leon asked Lance.

"Once or twice yeah" Lance nodded.

"Do what?" They both asked.

"Nothing" Both Lance and Leon replied.

* * *

Arthur got home that evening to find Morgana sat outside of his apartment door, dangling a key between her fingers.

"What's the matter Morgana? Trouble getting in?" Arthur smirked, juggling his groceries and files while he unlocked the door.

Morgana got up and brushed herself off "You changed the locks!" Morgana accused, jabbing him in the chest with her finger as she passed him to enter Arthur's apartment.

"Of course I did" Arthur snorted, "You didn't really think I was going to let you walk around with keys to my apartment. I could have case files or have company in there and I don't trust you."

"Oh please" Morgana called, making herself comfortable on his sofa while he dumped his groceries in the kitchen "Like you have the time for a girl, you work too much to keep a girl happy"

"You know" Arthur said lightly, when he came back in and fixed them both a drink from his drinks cabinet. "There is this phrase, I forget exactly how it goes but it's got something to do with a kettle and a pot."

"You and I both know I could have Leon anytime I wanted, all I have to do is snap my fingers and he will come running."

"He won't wait forever you know?" As much as the idea of his sister and his friend together made him slightly queasy, she was his sister after all. The idea of Morgana stringing Leon along made him very uncomfortable. "You need to make up your mind with him, it's not fair and it's not right."

"Spare me the lecture Arthur, I know what I'm doing. What took you so long to get home anyway? I know you left the station ages ago." Morgana asked changing the subject.

"I went shopping and how do you know when I left the station? Are you stalking me?"

"I have much better things to do with my time than stalk you Arthur. And Merlin told me"

Arthur rolled his eyes, "Great, everybody's friends with Merlin" Arthur said sarcastically.

Morgana narrowed her eyes at him "Why do you give him such a hard time?"

"Someone has too" Arthur snorted "Otherwise everyone would sit around gossiping like a bunch of girls"

"You're jealous!" Morgana exclaimed.

"What!?" Arthur shouted.

"You are, you're jealous"

"No I am not, why on earth would I be jealous of Merlin?"

"I didn't say you were jealous of Merlin" Morgana said gleefully.

"Huh?"

"You're jealous of everyone else, you're jealous that Merlin gets on so well with everyone else, he gives everyone else his attention except you, and it annoys you that he is not in awe and impressed by you"

"Why would I want Merlin's attention?" Arthur snapped, feeling very defensive and uncomfortable all of a sudden.

"And you respond by pulling his pigtails." Morgana continued. "You like him!"

"I do not"

"You do, you like Merlin and it annoys the hell out of you that he is not falling all over you." Morgana laughed.

"I do not"

"Really? Then what would you said if I told you that Merlin likes Gwaine?"

"He does not" Arthur barked instantly.

"You do, you have a crush on Merlin" Morgana laughed.

"Why are you even here Morgana?" Arthur snapped, fighting the urge to throw Morgana out the door. He didn't like Merlin, in any way. Just because he has dated both girls and boys in the past doesn't mean he likes Merlin. And the feeling that he got when Gwaine flirted with Merlin was not jealousy, it was annoyance of being interrupted, annoyance of the unprofessionalism, but it certainly wasn't jealousy. Merlin was the most annoying person he had ever met, why on earth would he like him.

"I came to get my camera back" Morgana said, interrupting his internal rant.

"You can have your camera but not the memory card." Arthur said stiffly.

"There are pictures for other stories I need on there."

"Then I shall go through them and delete the ones you shouldn't have" Arthur said. He had already done that but he felt like being petty at the moment, wanting to make her wait longer.

"You have no right!" Morgana said in outrage.

"I have every right you entered a closed crime scene without permission and you know it. You can have it back when I am done."

"Fine" Morgana snapped and start to jerk her coat back on. "You can be a right arse sometimes you know that Arthur?"

"Yep" Arthur grinned.

"Get me that memory card as soon as you can I have deadlines to meet."

"Hey Morgana?"

"What?" Morgana said sharply

"Have you ever heard of the name Nimueh?" He knew it was a big risk asking Morgana, but she had contacts he didn't and there was every chance she had come across the name during one of her own investigations. Whereas they so far had nothing.

"No, why? Is she a suspect?" Morgana asked quickly, clearly forgetting their argument at the prospect of getting some information from Arthur.

Arthur rolled his eyes faking his annoyance "I was just simply asking if you knew the name that's all, it's for a personal matter" He lied.

"A personal matter?"

"Yes a personal matter, you know I would never talk about a case with you." Arthur said convincingly "A friend of mine asked me for some help, that's all" Arthur lied again, knowing he had to give her something, Morgana wouldn't let it go otherwise.

"Oh! No sorry, never heard of it." Morgana said, tugging on her coat, "Memory card by tomorrow Arthur" Morgana said, as she left.

* * *

"You need a bigger desk Merlin" Gwaine said as he perched himself on the corner of Merlin's desk the next day.

"Stating the obvious there" Merlin grumbled, whilst trying to tug paperwork from under Gwaine's arse.

"Princess still won't let you in his office?"

"I wouldn't be out here if he did" Merlin said a little too sharply.

"Ouch, you're grumpy today"

Merlin sighed and threw himself back into his seat. "Sorry Gwaine, I'm just really tired today, I had a late night." Merlin had spent most of the night on the phone to a distraught Will. Who had had yet another bust up with his girlfriend, Lamia. Personally Merlin thought Will was better off, he was convinced she was cheating on his friend. But every time Merlin tried to suggest moving on, Will would go on the defensive and a defensive Will was a short tempered Will.

Merlin knew Will could do so much better. He also knew that Freya had been nursing a major crush on him for years now. Freya was Merlin's first and only girlfriend and she spent most of the time talking to or about Will, until she admitted that she only going out with him to get closer to Will. It didn't bother Merlin at the time as he already knew he was gay at that point and was only really going out with her to keep up appearances, once they had both come clean to each other they actually grew closer as friends and Freya would gush about Will all the time. But as long as Lamia was in the picture, Will wouldn't even think about looking at anyone else.

"You are still coming to the pub later?" Gwaine asked interrupting his thoughts.

Merlin shook his head "I don't know, all I really want to do at the moment is sleep."

"Just one drink Merlin" Gwaine pleaded. "I'll buy"

"One drink never stops at one drink" Merlin chuckled "Why are you so keen for me to come anyway?"

"We are celebrating." Gwaine grinned.

"You're always celebrating, what is it this time?"

"We broke our case, one we have been working on for a long time. We have a stack of evidence against them, and now we actually have a good chance of a conviction" 'now that Agravaine was out of the way' was left unsaid but heavily implied.

"What was the case?" Merlin asked with a bad feeling sinking into his stomach.

"Morgause and Cenred King they were antique smuggling, we had to set up a huge sting operation with a fake cup to get them, but we got them and now they are sitting pretty downstairs." Gwaine grinned.

"They are downstairs in the cells?"

"Yep" Gwaine said flicking his hair.

"Did they have any connections to any gangs?" Merlin pushed.

"No" Gwaine frowned "They may have done business with them once or twice, big operations like that are bound to cross paths at some point, but they were independent. Why the interest? You don't think they are connected to your case do you?"

"No" Merlin shook his head "Just a gut feeling that's all."

"Always trust your gut sweet cheeks it's what makes us good detectives."

"Has it been in the papers?"

"No we busted them the same day your Vic turned up so the press were a little distracted, although I'm still surprised we got it past Morgana."

"Morgana broke on to our crime scene so Arthur confiscated her camera." Merlin revealed.

"Ah, that would explain it. I bet Arthur got an ear full for that" Gwaine laughed.

Merlin shrugged "Morgana knows the rules, she took a risk and it didn't pay off."

"Morgana makes her own rules, you should know that by now Merlin"

"True" Merlin smiled.

"Aww please come tonight, all work and no fun make Merlin a dull boy" Gwaine pouted, doing his best to give Merlin puppy dog eyes.

"I will think about it" Merlin sighed.

"Excellent" Gwaine beamed jumping off his desk.

"But no promises." Merlin called before Gwaine could get too far.

"Yeah, yeah see you later Merlin" Gwaine shouted.

Merlin couldn't help but laugh and knew that he would end up going to the pub whether he wanted to or not.

Merlin tried to focus on his paperwork but he couldn't get his mind off Morgause and Cenred. His instincts were screaming at him. Morgause and Cenred could be possible targets, although Merlin couldn't see how, as long as they were in the cells they were safe.

Mordred was the strongest candidate as the next target, but with the amount of goons Mordred had around him he was virtually impossible to touch.

Curiosity eventually got the better of him so he decided to go down to the cells to get a look at Morgause and Cenred.

Morgause and Cenred were in separate cells Morgause was sat on her bed looking rather dishevelled. Her long blond hair was in disarray, her make up smeared and her clothes rumpled and dirty. Merlin imagined that she would normally be stunning everything done to perfection. Morgause didn't speak, she did however give him a cold icy glare, which immediately reminded him of Mordred. Suppressing a shudder Merlin moved on to the next cell.

Cenred was also in a state of disorder although it was clear he put up more of a fight, with bruises blooming across his cheeks and a vivid black eye. There was a white bandage on his forehead, Merlin assumed this was due to a cut or gash of some kind. Cenred was pacing his cell running his hands through his long jet black hair that was now greasy and hung limply about his shoulders. Once Cenred realised he was being watched he darted to the door with a sneer "What are you looking at boy?" Merlin didn't reply he simply shook his head and calmly left, the echoes of Cenred's fists banging of the door of his cell ringing out throughout the corridor.

* * *

Merlin was actually early to the pub this time, he hoped that meant he could get home sooner he really wanted to sleep. However he didn't think he was going to get it, he already had two missed calls from Will.

He would use Will as an excuse to go home early, he felt a little guilty using Will's heartbreak like that, but he knew there was no way Gwaine was going to let him go otherwise.

Making his way to the crowed bar he couldn't help but notice that there was a group of officers huddled in the far corner not far from their usual booth, surely they wouldn't be stupid enough to talk about a case in a place like this.

By the time he had been served with everyone's drinks from a girl he had never seen before, Kara accorded to her name badge, most of his group had arrived and settled in. The only people missing were Morgana and Gwaine. Morgana was probably catching up on her work now that she had her camera and memory card back.

Merlin changed his seat this time, sitting next to Percival so that he had a clear line of sight to the group of officers, which now had Gilli hovering behind them.

"Not trying to steal my Percy are you Merlin?" Gwaine asked, when he arrived.

"No I wouldn't dream of stealing your G.G" Merlin laughed.

"I see you haven't managed to fire Gilli yet" Merlin said to Elyan drawing every one's attention to Gilli who was still hovering.

"He hasn't done anything that I can fire him for and when he does Kara covers for him." Elyan admitted. "As irritating as he is I can't just fire him for no reason."

"Gilli!" Elyan shouted across the pub. Gilli leapt away from the table he was listening too. "Stop hovering and get back to work." Elyan shouted, making Gilli scramble for the bar.

"We need to keep an eye on him, something is not right there." Merlin said quietly.

Arthur leant over Leon and Percy "Why? What are you thinking?"

"Mole"

"Gilli!" Arthur laughed, "You think Gilli is a mole?"

"Why not? He seems to have an unhealthy interest in our conversations, just because we don't talk about work doesn't nobody else does, especially once they have had a few drinks in them."

"But still, Gilli!"

"It's the perfect act, we have our moles it only makes sense that they would have theirs too"

"Maybe" Arthur said, as he leant back in to his seat. Merlin promised himself that he would keep a closer eye on Gilli from now on, and despite Arthur's scepticism Merlin knew Arthur would too.

Merlin managed another twenty minutes before Will started to ring him, he quickly made his excuses and left to settle in for another long night with Will. As much as he wanted to sleep he wasn't going to leave his best friend hanging, at least he had the day off tomorrow so he could catch up on his sleep then.

* * *

Merlin did nothing on Saturday except sleep and talk to Will. It turned out Lamia was cheating, Will caught her at it this time so there was no talking her way out of it. Merlin hoped that this would mean Will would finally move and see what was in front of him the whole time.

Merlin had promised to come and see him soon, he wished he could go now to support his friend but he couldn't he felt he needed to be around because of the case.

Despite dealing with an angry Will Merlin had a very relaxing day spending time with Gaius who had actually taken his advice and asked Alice out and were now talking about going to Ealdor for a visit. Merlin suspected Gaius missed his mother and family more than he was letting on.

Sunday however was another matter.

Merlin was woken by the far too familiar sounds of his phone ringing.

"Whnogistatt" Merlin said sleepily.

"Sorry Merlin we have another one." Gwen's voice came, waking Merlin up instantly.

"Another one?"

"Afraid so."

"Do we know who it is yet?" Merlin asked, he already had a gut feeling who it was going to be.

"No not yet, there isn't enough people here yet."

"Okay I'm on my way."

"Oh and merlin?"

"Yeah"

"Make sure you wrap up this time its cold out this morning and we don't want you getting sick."

"Yes mother" Merlin chuckled.

Merlin skipped the shower this time too eager to get to the scene to find out the identity of the new Vic. He dressed quickly and was already dialling Gwaine before he made it out the house.

"This had better be a booty call to be calling at this time." Came the sluggish response.

"Gwaine"

"Merlin! Well I didn't expect a booty call from you, but hell I will take it" Gwaine said without missing a trick.

"No, not a booty call." Merlin chuckled. "Where are the King's?"

"Morgause and Cenred?"

"Yes"

"They made bail on Friday aftern-"

"Fuck"

"Why? They haven't skipped town have they?" Gwaine asked, with a serious tone that Merlin had never heard before.

"Not as far as I know but I was really hoping you would say they were still in the cells."

"What's happened?"

"We have a new Vic this morning, I don't know for certain yet but I think one of them could be our Vic, I am on my way to the crime scene now."

"Fuck! Text me the scene location, I will meet you there to confirm."

"Will do" Merlin fired off a quick text with the details before starting his car and making his way to the crime scene.

Merlin arrived to find Arthur already there, next to the body, barking orders left right and centre.

There was much more blood on the body than the last Vic's. Merlin could see that the incision on the left leg was much bigger, running from just above the knee all the way down to the groin. The remains of the hair was so thick with blood that if Merlin didn't already know she was blond he would have a hard time identifying the colour. This time the Vic was gagged, which Merlin knew meant she was awake at the time.

"Our top priority is identifying the Vic." Arthur shouted.

"The Vic's name is Morgause King." Merlin said, startling Arthur.

"What? How do you know?"

"She and her husband Cenred King were Gwaine and Percy's case that they just solved, they were released on bail on Friday. Gwaine is on his way to confirm the ID."

"Her husband too?" Arthur asked.

Merlin nodded.

"Alright I want a zone and quadrant search set up A.S.A.P we have another potential body in the area." Arthur shouted. "Co-ordinate with D.C Guinevere Wayland."

"AH FUCK" came a shout behind them. They spun around to find Gwaine there with his eyes locked on the body.

"Is it her?" Merlin asked gently.

Gwaine ran his hand through his hair as his shoulders sagged, "Yeah, it's her."

"Where is Cenred?" Arthur asked.

Gwaine shook his head, "I called in with the tech department on my way here. They were both electronically tagged as condition of their bail, they are designed to alert us if they go more than five miles from their home. Both tags are still active and are located at their house. But if Morgause is here there is no telling where Cenred is."

"Okay we need to head over to their house and establish Cenred's whereabouts first"

"I'm coming with you" Gwaine stated.

"That's fine" Arthur agreed. "Let's go"

One by one they all piled into Arthur's car "How far away is their place?" Merlin asked.

"Only about three miles away, so the tag wouldn't have gone off anyway, but it would have helped us to track her movements."

"How did you know it was Morgause Merlin?" Arthur asked.

"Gwaine told me about them on Friday morning, they were still in the cells at that point and…I don't I just had a gut feeling so I went to get a look at them just in case."

"You had a gut feeling"

"Yeah, we had worked out it was a vigilante responsible for the murders, I figured they would be the next ideal targets." Merlin explained.

"But they didn't get away with it, they didn't even make it trail to get away with it."

"It appears he is no longer taking that chance because I was right wasn't I? And if Cenred is still alive he is the next target."

"We are about to find out" Arthur said, as they pulled into the drive way of an old fashioned detached Victorian house, if it was any bigger it could pass as a mansion merlin thought, it was at least four stories high, double doors in the middle with at least two large bay windows on each side.

"Wow! I'm in the wrong job" Merlin exclaimed when they got out of the car.

Arthur snorted, "I can't see you as a smuggler Merlin."

"Oh I don't know, I would definitely give it a go" Merlin laughed.

Before Gwaine could knock on the door it flew open "Well it's about-" Cenred halted when he realised it wasn't who he was expecting.

Cenred had cleaned himself up a lot since Merlin last saw him. Dressed in an immaculate tailored suit that probably cost more than Merlin's salary, the bruises were yellowing and his now clean hair tied back in a ponytail.

"Morning Cenred" Gwaine greeted.

"What have you done with Morgause? You better not have locked her up again" Cenred growled.

"_We _haven't done anything with Morgause." Gwaine replied "But we are here to talk about her" Gwaine didn't wait for an invite he simply pushed past Cenred and went into the nearest room, which turned out to a large lounge, Arthur and Merlin followed him closely.

"You have no rig-"

"We have every right," Gwaine interrupted in a bored voice. "First let's see your security anklet."

"Fine," Cenred huffed and yanked up his trouser leg to show off a bulky grey anklet with a couple of green flashing lights. "Happy now? Now tell me where Morgause is."

"I'm sorry Cenred," Gwaine answered making an effort to put some softness in his voice "She's dead"

"What! What do you mean dead?"

"She was killed at some point during the night."

All colour drained out of Cenred's face as he dropped down on to the nearest sofa.

"No" Cenred's face contorted with pain and anguish, "No this can't be happening, not my Morgause"

"How?" Cenred asked weakly after a few moments.

"Have you been reading the papers?" Arthur inquired gently.

Cenred nodded "About the serial killer? The Hunter?"

Nobody answered, they didn't need to their silence had already given away everything. "You mean that sick bastard got my Morgause?" Cenred shouted, face now shifting to one of rage.

"What was she doing out last night Cenred?" Gwaine asked.

"She was visiting a friend to make arrang-" Cenred halted. But he had already given away too much.

"What was that? To make arrangements? Arrangements for what?" Gwaine asked.

"You were going to try and run, weren't you?" Merlin concluded.

"No" Cenred shouted hotly, but it was already clear what they were planning to do.

"Alright," Arthur announced "I want eyes inside the house and eyes outside the house at all times"

"What?!" Cenred shouted, jumping up from the couch "There is no way I am allowing you pigs to stay inside my house."

Arthur pushed Cenred back down on to the sofa "Don't you get it Cenred? You're next. The killer _is_ going to come after you."

"Let him come," Cenred growled "I will be ready for him."

"We could always lock you back up in the cells for your own protection." Merlin interjected.

"No you can't _I_ have done nothing to break my bail conditions."

"But it would be for your own protection," Merlin insisted.

"I don't care, let the bastard come, he will be in for a surprise if he does." Cenred glared at Merlin.

"Not planning on doing something stupid are you Cenred? Like trying to run again?" Gwaine asked.

"What? Me? I would never do such a thing officer" Cenred replied, full of fake shock and sincerity.

"You forget I know you Cenred" Gwaine growled.

"Then there would be no problem in allowing someone to stay in the house with you would there?" Arthur pointed out.

"No I guess not" Cenred gritted out.

"That settles it then, I want someone outside watching the house and someone inside. We will take it in shifts, Gwaine and Percy take the day shift watching the house and Merlin and I will take the night shift."

"Stakeout duty?" Merlin asked, he hadn't done stakeout's before, he wasn't sure if he should be excited or nervous about being trapped in a car with Arthur.

"Yes _Mer_lin stakeout duty." Arthur groaned. "We will send someone over to watch the inside of the house."

"Wait" Merlin cut in as they were about to leave "We need to find the second security anklet there could be fingerprints on it."

After ten minutes of searching Merlin found Morgause's security tag in the bushes at the front of the property and bagged it before Arthur dropped them all off at the crime scene to collect their cars. "Right Gwaine go pick up Percy and take the first watch, double check he is in there first, Merlin go home and get some rest you have a long night ahead, I will do the same once I have dropped this tag off with evidence and organised the eyes for inside the house."

"Yes Sir" Both Merlin and Gwaine answered with no hint of mocking.

* * *

Merlin spent most of the next day in bed and after spending an hour with Gaius and checking in with Will he made himself a lunch box for what was going to be a long and dull night trapped in a car with Arthur.

Once Arthur had picked him and they made their way to Cenred's house they settled in for a long night

"He is still in there right?" Merlin asked.

"Yes Merlin, he is still in there." Arthur sighed.

"Who did you find for inside the house?"

"Isolde and Tristan, Isolde has the night shift, they were the only two I could trust not to fall for any of Cenred's tricks. Isolde has already checked in so we know he is definitely in there."

"Arthur?"

"Mmm"

"I've been thinking." Merlin said, slightly apprehensive. He didn't think Arthur was going to like his new theory much, but it was the only thing that made sense to him.

"Oh no, nothing good ever comes out of your mouth when you've been thinking."

"Hey! If it weren't for me and my thinking we wouldn't know about the second gang"

"Exactly, a second gang is hardly good is it now Merlin?"

"Fair point. But I was right wasn't I?"

"You were," Arthur nodded.

"Right so just bare that in mind when I tell you this. But Cenred and Morgause's case didn't make it to court, so our killer can't be anyone in the legal system except for maybe the bail hearings, they didn't make it to the papers either so it's not a reader."

"Right so what's your point?"

"I think it's someone on the inside or at the very least we have a big leak. Think about it how else could the killer have found out about the Kings and there was Kanen's case too that didn't get a great deal of publicity, so it has to be someone with access to the case records. And those security anklets are not easy to remove and yet our killer managed to remove it without deactivating it, someone must have told him how"

"As much as it pains me to admit this, but I have had a similar thought myself." Arthur admitted, "The question is, is our killer in the force? Or is someone in the force giving our killer information?"

"I have only been here just under two months so I still don't know everyone very well, I can't imagine it being any of the people I do know."

"But the fact remains is that someone in CID knows who our killer is."

"There is someone who springs to mind," Merlin admitted.

"Who?"

"Gilli"

"Gilli again Merlin," Arthur scoffed.

"It's a better thought than one of our own turning over information."

"True," Arthur admitted.

"And if those guys he was listening too on Friday had any involvement in the arrest or talking about the bail, then Gilli is in the perfect position to receive and hand over information. If someone was intimidating Gilli to get the information I can see him doing it."

"Hmmm maybe I will look into him see if I can find anything off. Any other thoughts on who it could be?"

"No sorry, like I said I don't know everyone very well yet, but I will keep my eyes and ears open."

"I suspect your ears are always open Merlin," Arthur laughed.

"Hey!" Merlin exclaimed, covering his ears with his hands "Leave off the ears," Merlin laughed.

* * *

Despite Arthur's reservations about a stakeout with Merlin Arthur had to admit it wasn't actually that bad. It could have gone better, Merlin was still annoying, but Arthur was quite proud of himself for keeping his temper in check.

They had spent most of the night talking about the case and who could possibly be the leak, Arthur didn't like the idea that one of their own could be working for the other side. They had to trust each other explicitly as they had to put their lives in each other's hands. The idea that someone he trusts someone he is trusting with his life could be leaking information about him and the rest of the force did not sit well with him, it put him on edge. He asked Merlin to tell the leak theory only to those that needed to know, to those he trusted completely, the last thing they needed was everyone accusing each other.

Arthur was going to meet with his father before going home to bed ready for the next night shift watching Cenred. Nothing suspicious had happened at all during the night, Cenred had argued with Isolde a lot until he went to bed just after midnight but otherwise it was a very quiet night.

"Father" Arthur acknowledged when he entered the room. Arthur winced internally at the thunderous look on his father, and braced himself for another tongue lashing.

"How is the case proceeding? I believe you had another victim over the weekend."

"We did, Morgause King. We believe that Cenred King is going to be the next target for The Hunter."

"And what are you doing about it?" Uther growled.

"We have Cenred under constant surveillance, we have eyes inside and outside the house at all times. Merlin and I are staking out the house at night with Gwaine and Percival during the day, we also Isolde and Tristian taking it in shifts to be the eyes on the inside. We are still waiting on test results from Lancelot which we hope will provide something, the crime scene looked different this time, there is a good chance he made a mistake."

"And what of Nimueh? According to your report you believe she is the leader of this new gang. What are you doing about her?" Uther asked with contained fury.

"We have alerted the undercover agents to our findings and asked them to find out anything they can on her, even if it's just a photo. Although that may be difficult for them if they have been discovered."

"Clearly you have not read todays paper then." Uther sneered and threw a paper at Arthur who only just managed to catch the unexpected objet.

Arthur unfolded the paper to look at the front page and felt his jaw drop.

'_NIMUEH LAKE! THE NEW BOSS IN TOWN?'_

The article even included a picture of a woman leaving what looked like a warehouse. Dressed in a black skirt and jacket with a blood red blouse showing through her open jacket. Her long black hair was flowing over her shoulders, immaculate make up with her blood red lips standing out against her pale face.

Arthur recognised the photo from one on Morgana's memory card, which means Morgana lied to him, if Arthur had known this was Nimueh he would have copied it and deleted it from Morgana's memory card.

"Well? What do you have to say for yourself?"

"H..How?"

"How is the main issue isn't it Arthur?" Uther shouted. "How did Morgana get information that you were incapable of getting?"

"She has different sources than we do. Maybe they have people uncover too"

"And how is it that our undercover agents have been discovered yet hers have not?"

"Actually Merlin and I have been discussing the possibility of a leak, this only backs up our theory"

"A leak?" Uther shouted. "You are going to blame your incompetence on a leak? I have no idea what is going on with you lately Arthur first Agravaine now this."

"Agravaine's Diplomatic Immunity was a forgery." Arthur shouted back.

"Be that as it may you still missed until it was too late."

"It wasn't there" Arthur insisted knowing it was pointless arguing and Arthur was too tired to argue he had been up all night.

"Wait a minute where is morgana now? Nimueh has gone to a lot of effort to make sure she stayed off our radar Morgana could be in danger now that she has exposed Nimueh"

"Do not believe me to be as incompetent as you are" Uther growled "She is being moved as we speak, she is not happy about it but she doesn't have a choice."

"Who knows about it?"

"Are you questioning me?"

"No father, you don't understand. If we do have a leak then her whereabouts could be given out, after all if our agents have been made then that could mean information is being leaked to the gang"

"Don't you worry about Morgana, I will question her myself. I will make sure only me and the protection officers know about her, you don't need to know anything else, just worry about your own job for what it's worth to you.

"My job means a great deal, you know that father." Arthur protested.

"Then prove it." Uther snapped. "I now have to go and answer questions about all this and explain why we didn't know anything. I have to go and clean up your mess _again_! Mark my words Arthur this is the last time I will do so."

"Yes father" Arthur said defeatedly and left to go home.

Arthur didn't care if it was morning, he was going to have a drink, it wasn't morning to him anyway it felt like evening and after that meeting with his father he needed it. He vaguely realised that he was drinking too often lately and vowed to leave off it for a while, after today that is, there was nothing going to stop him now. Before Arthur knew it he had drank almost half a bottle of whiskey before collapsing into bed with his mind blissfully numb.

* * *

"You're awfully quiet tonight Arthur is everything ok?" Merlin asked after they sat in silence for an hour. Arthur was bit hung over from his drinking binge earlier, he didn't think Merlin had noticed though. The pain killers he took before coming out were finally starting to kick in and he was beginning to feel a little more human.

"Just peachy" he sighed knowing this was going to be the start of a hundred questions.

"How did the meeting go with your father this morning?"

"Have you read the papers?"

"Yes," Merlin winced.

"Then you can imagine how well the meeting went"

"Did he at least apologise over Agravaine?"

"No," Arthur laughed "Uther has never apologised for anything in his life, he is not about to start now."

"Sorry"

"Not your fault"

"Is Morgana okay?" Merlin inquired.

"Yes, she has been moved to a safe house, even I don't know where. Though you can bet she won't sit there for long knowing Morgana."

"No she probably won't" Merlin laughed.

Thankfully Merlin seemed to recognise that Arthur wasn't in the mood for talking and kept silent for the rest of the night, leaving Arthur to wallow in his thoughts for a while.

It was another quite night after Cenred had gone to bed again and receiving the 'all clear' from Isolde. Gwaine and Percy reported nothing suspicious during the day. Cenred did try and leave the house several times but was caught each time, it was a wonder how he managed to get away with his smuggling business for as long as he did, Morgause was clearly the brains of their operation.

Arthur's mobile broke the silence in the early hours of the morning.

"Pendragon"

"Sir!"

"Guinevere"

"Sir, we have another body."

"What!" Arthur shouted, feeling Merlin beside him lean over so he could listen too.

"Sorry Sir, but it's Cenred"

"What! How?!" Arthur shouted slamming his hand on the steering wheel.

Arthur didn't wait for an explanation as Merlin had leapt out of the car and was running over to the house with his gun drawn.

"Merlin! Wait!"


	5. A New Clue

**Still don't own and still no beta.**

**Thank you too all my followers, readers and to people who have taken the time to comment/review xxxxxxxxxxx**

**Hopefully the ending will be a surprise.**

* * *

**CHAPTER 5**

**A NEW CLUE**

Merlin raced across the street drawing his gun and tried to open the wide double doors, but they were still locked. He shot though the lock on the handle and started to kick the door down. Arthur quickly approached from behind.

"You are supposed to wait for me, you can't enter a potentially hostile house without back up." Arthur admonished.

"Isolde could still be in there."

"I know, but so could the killer."

They kicked the door down together, with them both at it, it didn't take long before the front doors flew open. They quickly moved through each room downstairs, both with guns drawn, nodding the all clear to each other as they checked each room.

With the downstairs thoroughly and swiftly checked they proceeded to the stairs and checked the next floors. Knowing that Isolde had stationed herself on the third and final landing, they slowed down on the last flight of stairs, preparing for trouble.

They found Isolde collapsed on the landing floor. Merlin went to check her over while Arthur covered his back. Merlin checked her pulse and sighed in relief when he found it, it was slow but steady, turning her head to one side he noticed a small puncture wound on her neck.

"She is alive, it looks like she has been drugged."

They proceeded to check the rest of the house, finding nothing. There wasn't any signs of a struggle anywhere and they found Cenred's security anklet in his bed.

"I will call for an ambulance to check Isolde over and get a forensics team here," Merlin said, once the house was secure.

"I'm going to sweep the house one last time see if I can find any evidence of forced entry." Arthur said.

Once he had made the call Merlin stayed with Isolde who was starting to come round.

"Isolde? Can you hear me?"

Isolde groaned and gave a weak nod.

"Don't worry an ambulance is on the way, you're going to be okay," Merlin reassured her.

Isolde nodded again "Cenred?" she whispered.

"Gone," Merlin said. "It wasn't your fault so don't even think about blaming yourself for this. Can you remember anything?" Isolde shook her head and groaned again. "Stay still"

Merlin heard the paramedics calling from downstairs "Up here," he shouted causing Isolde to groan again "Sorry" he said, toning down the volume of his voice.

"What do we have?" the paramedic asked once he reached them.

"She has a puncture wound on her neck, I am pretty sure she has been drugged with animal tranquilisers." Merlin informed them.

"Leave it to us." The paramedic nodded, and proceeded to unpack their equipment, putting an oxygen mask on to Isolde.

Merlin reached down to squeeze Isolde's shoulder "Will you be okay?"

"Yes" Isolde replied weakly and muffled, "Go"

Merlin nodded and went in search of Arthur who he found in the kitchen silently looking over the back door.

"There is no sign of forced entry but this back door was unlocked, I don't think Isolde was careless enough to leave it unlocked which means the killer had a key or she let him in." Arthur said without being asked.

"She doesn't remember anything at the moment, she may remember more once she has come round properly."

"If she let the killer in he would have attacked her here not on the landing." Arthur surmised.

"Mmm," Merlin agreed, "Morgause would have had a key, he could have taken it from her."

"He knew Isolde was here and that he had to take her out to get to Cenred."

"Which proves the leak theory, trouble is the whole department knew we were here and why."

"I wonder why he didn't just kill Isolde" Arthur thought out loud.

"She doesn't fit his profile, he only kills criminals," Merlin said "So far anyway."

"You think that may change?" Arthur asked.

"It may, it all depends on who the killer thinks is a criminal"

Arthur sighed "I can't believe the killer took Cenred from under our noses. My father is going to go nuts over this."

"It's not your fault, we did everything we could."

"You think my father will see it that way?" Arthur snorted. "He may even put me on probation for this."

"What?! You don't seriously think he will do that do you?"

"You have never really met my father have you Merlin?"

"But for this?" Merlin was shocked, he couldn't believe Uther would put his own son on probation especially when it wasn't his fault, nobody but the killer was to blame in Merlin's opinion. He had heard Uther threaten probation before, but he thought that's all it was, a threat.

"Do you realise how bad this looks, I can see the headlines now 'Cops guard empty house while The Hunter kills another'"

"Then he should put me on probation too, I was just as involved as you were."

A small smile tugged at the corner of Arthur's lips "I will tell him that shall I?"

"If it helps then yes" Merlin exclaimed.

"Thanks Merlin the gesture is appreciated, but we both know that won't make any difference."

"But-"

"Come on," Arthur sighed. "We are not going to find anything else here, let's go to the crime scene see what Lance has for us."

* * *

Arthur took them to the crime scene and tried to put his father out of his mind, he needed to focus on the case not his father. Arthur knew that Merlin meant what he said about putting him on probation too, and Arthur couldn't deny the warm fuzzy feeling of gratitude that spread though him when Merlin offered, but he also knew it wouldn't make a difference. He was a Pendragon and Pendragon's do not fail.

Arthur felt like he had failed. He had failed Agravaine and now Cenred, even though they were criminals they did not deserve to die and no one deserved to die like that.

There was already a crowd outside the crime scene by the time they got there, Arthur exhaled a sigh of relief knowing that at least Morgana was not going to a problem this time.

The forensics team were starting to pack up but Lance was still there.

"Lance!"

"Arthur, Merlin" Lance greeted.

"Who is the F.O.A?" Arthur asked. At least he knew it wasn't going to be Cedric, since Arthur put him on probation he had been restricted to desk duty until he proves himself. Arthur didn't think that would be anytime soon.

"Gwen, she is coming now." Lance answered.

"Guinevere," Arthur greeted. "Okay what have we got people?"

"He was interrupted this time. The lady who reported it in, another dog walker, said she saw a man about 6' 1" around the body. He ran off when he saw her but he was dressed entirely in black including a black ski mask."

"Well at least now we know there is only one killer," Merlin said.

"Yes but no real description, did she see anything else?" Arthur asked.

"He got into a red car, she said she doesn't know enough about cars to tell you what kind exactly and she didn't get a good look at the number plate, but she did recognise the Ford logo on the rear of the car."

"Excellent!" Arthur exclaimed. "We said before that it could be a Ford Fiesta Estate based on the tyre tracks, it looks like we were right only now we know it is red this narrows down our list substantially."

"It still leaves high number to go through?" Merlin pointed out.

"Yes, but it is less than before. I know it's not a lot but it's something" Arthur said firmly.

"Also," Gwen grinned. "He dropped his knife as he ran away."

"We have the murder weapon?!" Merlin said surprised.

"Yes, I have already checked it for prints and it's clean." Lance informed them "But it looks old, really old."

"An antique?" Arthur asked.

"Most likely," Lance nodded.

"This is good," Arthur grinned "If it's an antique there is a good chance it's traceable, and it means our killer is starting to make mistakes" He also had something good to report to his father during their next meeting, which would probably be sooner rather than later after the events of this morning.

"I have already sent you several pictures so you can start tracing it." Lance said.

"What about the body?" Arthur asked.

"Well I was going to give you my report about Morgause later, and I can only give you a primarily on Cenred at the moment."

"Well we are here now, so can you give us your reports now?"

"Okay," Lance agreed, "I will start with Morgause, there was virtually no drugs in her system so she was definitely awake at the time of the murder, which is probably why she was gagged. There was only active blood flow through the large incision on her left leg and through the head wounds."

"So she was already dead before he made the rest of the incisions?" Arthur asked and Lance nodded.

"I noticed that the wound on her left leg was much bigger than normal," Merlin put in, "Do we have any idea why?"

"I have already asked Leon about it," Lance said "He is part of the protection detail for Morgana so he wouldn't have been able to see us later. He said it was about inflicting pain and fear into the victim. He was experimenting with the dosage with Agravaine, he wants his victim incapacitated but aware."

"So he made the first incision long to cause more pain? And for waited for her to die before making the rest?" Merlin asked.

"She would still have only taken a few minutes to die, once your main artery is cut you bleed out fairly quickly. And Leon is convinced that the killer scalped her before cutting the artery, making her live through the pain of that first."

Both Arthur and Merlin winced at that the thought of being scalped alive "And Cenred?" Arthur asked.

"Cenred looks a lot like Edwin so far, but then he knew time was of the essence this time and had to act quickly. Cenred has only been dead for just over an hour so he didn't have the time to play with him like he did Morgause."

Arthur ran his hand through his hair and sighed, "Two kills in two days that's some time escalation."

"Cenred and Morgause were partners in crime as well as marriage, it's possible he saw them as one job." Merlin said.

"I don't suppose your gut can tell us who the next victim is going to be?" Arthur asked.

"I don't know about my gut" Merlin frowned, "But I can take an educated guess."

"Nimueh" Arthur and Merlin said in unison.

"We need to find her," Arthur said.

"And trace this dagger," Merlin nodded. "Hey I have a question"

"What?"

"Has anyone told Gwaine and Percy yet?"

* * *

Merlin and Arthur returned to the station to find Gwaine lounging in Merlin's chair at his desk. However Cedric came bumbling up to them before anyone could say anything. "Sir!" Cedric addressed Arthur, "Your father wants to see you in his office right away."

"That's the Chief Superintendent to you." Arthur snapped.

"Ah…erm…right…sorry, yes the Chief Superintendent wants to see you."

Merlin shared a glance with Arthur before he left, they both knew what the meeting was going to be about, "Good Luck" Merlin said.

"Thanks" Arthur muttered, and strode off leaving Merlin and Gwaine alone.

"So Cenred's dead then" Gwaine stated without missing a beat.

Merlin winced "Yeah, sorry we meant to tell you, things just kinda got away from us this morning."

Gwaine shrugged, "It's fine Merlin I know how it can be." Gwaine sighed and tipped his head back "He didn't deserve to go out like that Merlin."

"I know, no one does. Don't worry we are going to catch him, no matter how long it takes."

"I know you will, you and Arthur make a good team. Just let me know if there is anything I can do to help. I would like to see this bastard behind bars too."

"I will" Merlin said perching himself on the corner of his own desk.

"On a brighter note, I've brought you a present from the tech department, it took them a while to sort it, but they got there in the end."

"Present?"

"Yep," Gwaine picked up a large box from underneath the desk. "A laptop, a PC wouldn't fit on your desk so they commissioned you a laptop, it's probably not very good or very fast but it's something that will allow access to the database."

"Wow, thanks Gwaine." Merlin said, trying to keep his eyes from following the direction Arthur left in.

"Hmmm I expected a little more enthusiastic response to that considering you complain about it every time you have to use our computer."

"Sorry Gwaine, I'm just tired." Merlin said forcing a smile.

"Don't worry about princess he will be fine."

"Will his father really put him on probation?"

"Maybe, but that won't stop Arthur, he won't let anything get in the way of the case, even Uther and his temper tantrums."

"It still seems a bit harsh"

Gwaine nodded, "Uther has always been harsh with Arthur, it doesn't mean he doesn't care, he does, he just doesn't show it or doesn't know how."

"You know, at first I thought he had it easy because of who his dad was, but's that's not true is it?"

Gwaine shook his head with a grimace, "You are not the first to think that and you won't be the last. In fact Arthur has had to work twice as hard to prove himself, _because_ of who his father was."

"Although I got to admit it was the arrogant attitude that made me think that." Merlin smirked.

"There is that to," Gwaine laughed, and got up, "I will leave you too your new toy."

* * *

Arthur entered his father's office with a now familiar sense of foreboding.

"He took the victim from right under your nose." Uther growled as soon as he sat down.

"Yes Sir."

"Give me one good reason why I should not put you on probation Arthur."

"Because we are closing in on him." Arthur replied.

"Really? And why do you say that?"

"Because he left evidence at the crime scene, and because we know who his next victim is going to be"

"Explain" Uther demanded stiffly.

"He was interrupted and we now have a vague description of him and he left behind the murder weapon, it is an antique knife, very unique and we should be able to trace it especially if he has bought it recently. We also know he drives a red Ford Fiesta Estate."

"You got lucky you mean"

"Yes Sir."

"It's hardly a lot to go on, a vague description? A red Ford Fiesta?"

"And the murder weapon" Arthur pointed out. Already knowing it was no use, his father was just gathering steam before he rolled over Arthur.

"And his next victim?" Uther inquired.

"Nimueh Lake," Arthur replied. "Thanks to Morgana she is big news, and a mob boss. He is no longer waiting for convictions or court appearances, it makes sense that she is next likely target. We just have to find her first."

"Hopefully you won't find her hanging from a tree." Uther snarled.

Arthur huffed "We had eyes inside and outside the house at all times. Cenred had on a security tag, which we shortened the range on to prevent him from leaving the house. What else could I have done father?"

"You should have been in house yourself."

"That wouldn't have made a difference, except it would have been me on the floor instead of Isolde. I trust Isolde and she is a perfectly capable officer."

"Then you should have been more alert, the killer took the victim on your watch."

Arthur was tired, so very tired. Tired of doing everything he could to please his father, tired of never being good enough, tired of always trying to reach an impossible goal, tired of being measured and always found wanting. He was done. "You know what?" Arthur snapped, "Put me on probation, I don't care anymore. But you will not take me away from this case."

"How dare you speak to me like that! I am your father and your superior, you will show me some respect!" Uther shouted.

"Why? It makes no difference" Arthur retorted, getting up and pacing Uther's office, "I will always be a disappointment to you whether I show you respect or not. What is the point in constantly trying to please you and make you happy when it's clearly impossible? No matter what I do, it is never enough for you. At least this way I will have my own self-respect." Arthur sighed and turned to face his stunned father. "Do whatever makes you happy, if that's at all possible, and if that means putting me on probation, then so be it."

Arthur left slamming the door behind him, ignoring his father's calls to return. Arthur was shaking but it was a good shaking, he had never felt so exhilarated in his life. He actually stood up to his own father, if he had known it would feel this good he would have done it years ago and saved himself the misery.

Arthur made it down the stairs and on to the main floor, still buzzing. He was surprised to find Merlin still there at his desk messing with an old computer.

"Merlin! What are you still doing here?"

"Erm…I work here" Merlin said when he looked up.

"Yes but I thought you would have gone home by now, we have just been on a stake out all night after all and it's nearly dinner time now." Arthur said glancing at his watch.

"I wanted to make sure you were alright," Merlin replied with a slight blush tinting his cheeks.

"I'm fine sweet cheeks" Arthur smiled, making Merlin blush even more, "In fact I feel great" Arthur grinned.

"Right, so he didn't put you on probation then?"

"Probably" Arthur shrugged, still grinning

"And that doesn't bother you?" Merlin frowned.

"Nope, for the first time in my life I stood up to him, so I feel pretty good. I will probably panic tomorrow but for now I am going to enjoy it." Arthur really hoped he wouldn't regret it after his buzz had worn off, he was unsure if he would be able to do it again. It had taken him twenty seven years to stand up to his father he didn't want to wait another twenty seven more.

"Good for you, I'm glad for you" Merlin smiled.

"Go home, get some sleep Merlin, we are both running on fumes at the moment and we are no good to anyone. Tomorrow we need to find Nimueh, based on the killer's new pattern he may kill again tomorrow night so we need to be ready."

"Yes Sir" Merlin smiled, "Oh, I made us an appointment with the tech department in the morning, see if we can find the location of where the picture from the paper was taken, it will give us a starting point."

"Good thinking, but I for one am going to get some sleep, I suggest you do the same."

"I am, I am going now."

"Good night or afternoon Merlin." Arthur said still grinning,

"Night Arthur" Merlin said, packing up his equipment.

When Arthur got home he had a quick shower before falling into bed and had the best night's sleep he had had in years that wasn't alcohol induced.

* * *

Merlin arrived bright and early the following morning eager to get a head start on tracking Nimueh. There were no markers on the warehouse in the picture with Nimueh but the tech department in Camelot was one of the best in the country. All he had to do was wait for Arthur.

Gwaine was right about his new laptop, it was not very good and was extremely slow, he had only just managed to boot it up and log on to the database by the time Arthur arrived.

"Where are we up too?" Arthur asked, taking the seat from the empty desk next to Merlin's. Arthur turned the chair around and sat so that he was leaning on the back of it with his arms folded on top.

"I was waiting for you before going over to the tech department. I am just going to start a search for the dagger in our database first, by the time we get back it might be done…maybe, this thing is painfully slow."

"Make it quick, I want to get out and look for Nimueh."

Merlin nodded and started tapping away at his computer, "How are you this morning?" Merlin asked.

"I'm fine, why?" Arthur frowned.

Merlin looked up, "Oh I just thought that after yesterday-"

"And what have I told you about thinking _Mer_lin?" Arthur teased, but not unkindly.

"That nothing good comes from it?" Merlin grinned.

"Right" Arthur said, however Merlin continued to stare at him and Arthur sighed, "Honestly Merlin I'm fine, I wished it could have gone better but I don't regret it either, it was a long time coming."

"Do you know if he has put you on probation?"

Arthur shook his head "I haven't heard anything either way yet, if he is going to do it then he's going to do it and it won't matter what I say." Arthur indicated to the laptop, "Are you done with that yet?"

"Sorry" Merlin said and drew his attention back to the laptop and continued to tap away. A few moments later and he was ready, "Shall we go?" Merlin asked. Arthur nodded and they made their way over to the tech department.

Once they got there they were directed to George's office, apparently he was the best at this sort of thing. The office had a large wide desk that went from one side of the room to the other, with at least five computer screens on it.

George was a short man who seemed to snap to attention when they entered to room, wearing pin stripe trousers with a knitted vest under a tweed jacket, he looked like a fifty's throw back, very out of place given the level of technology in the room.

"What can I do for you gentlemen?" George asked very politely.

"Well we were hoping you tell us the location where this photograph was taken" Arthur said handing George the paper.

George spent a few moments taking a good look at the picture, "I may not be able to give you an exact location but definitely a rough area"

"Even a rough area is a place to start." Merlin said. Both Merlin and Arthur stared at George waiting for him to do something other than stare back.

"What. Now?" George asked, once it clicked what they were waiting for.

"Now would be good, yes" Arthur said, like it was obvious.

"Yes Sir." George replied, Merlin half expected him to bow or salute or something. George then went into detail explaining that he would use the camera angle with the sun's position and the shadows produced from the buildings and such. Merlin quickly became lost and tuned most of it out. He glanced over at Arthur to find his eyes similarly glazed over.

Merlin rolled his eyes and grabbed one of the spare chairs in the room and made himself comfortable knowing that this could take a while. He wished he brought the laptop with at least he could be doing something useful while he waited.

Merlin asked George if he had a spare laptop he could borrow and received a deadly glare for his trouble, it seemed George was very protective of his equipment. It was only then that Merlin noticed all the 'no food or drinks' signs attached to every wall, window and door, okay make that extremely protective.

After what felt like days but was probably only an hour, George announced he was done. "I think I found the location for you" George said, handing Arthur a print out, "I think it's most likely this old warehouse on Chalice Street" George said pointing to something on the print out. Merlin moved in closer to see that it was a map. "But it could also be this one on Well's Road which runs parallel to Chalice Street."

"Wow that's brilliant, thank you George" Arthur grinned.

"You're most welcome Sir." George beamed, ignoring Merlin.

"Right! Well, shall we go before George here asks you to bend over while he kisses your ass?" Merlin snapped.

Arthur raised his eyebrows in surprise "Merlin!" Arthur called as Merlin left the room. "Merlin what was that about?" Arthur asked when he caught up.

"Nothing"

"It most certainly was"

"I just don't like boot lickers inflating your already huge ego." Merlin replied.

"You're jealous!" Arthur laughed.

"I'm not"

"Are too"

"Am not, I just don't like being ignored, like I'm not even in the room, it's rude, he was rude."

"Sure _Mer_lin whatever you say."

"Whatever" Merlin sighed, "Let's go, we have another building to stake out."

"I suggest that we keep this to ourselves and not tell anyone" Merlin said once they got in to Arthur's car.

"What your jealousy?" Arthur said confused.

"I was not jealous! I meant about keeping the location to ourselves, there is no telling who our leak is" Merlin said bringing them back on topic "And we don't want the killer to get one over on us again"

"Agreed" Arthur said, "No one but me and you. Don't even put in any reports, not until it's absolutely necessary."

"No reports" Merlin agreed.

* * *

They soon found the buildings and scouted out the area, the building on Well's Road was completely empty and covered in a thick layer of dust. However they couldn't find anything out about the building on Chalice Street. All the windows were blacked out and the doors were locked up tight. They were unable to get any information at all. At least not without being detected. But one thing was clear, the building was in use! They just needed to find out by who.

So they were left with no option but to sit tight and watch the building, especially since Morgana was unwilling to reveal her source's with her information.

They saw a few cars come and go during the day none of which had Nimueh in. Everyone that visited the building only stayed for short periods of time, with half an hour being the longest. "They could be collecting something, or picking something up." Arthur thought.

"Maybe," Merlin agreed, "They could be collecting drugs or money, the building could easily a manufacturing laboratory, making their own drugs and then distributing them to these guys" Merlin suggested.

"Then surely Nimueh would show up at some point to see the day's takings?"

"She might have someone else do that for her."

Arthur shook his head, "We know she has been spotted here before, maybe this place is some sort of headquarters?"

"And all these people coming and going are her minions reporting in" Merlin suggested "But if that's the case then she is already in there and has been all along."

"Well if she is, she has to come out of there eventually" Arthur said.

It was well past midnight before anything interesting happened. Arthur was actually considering calling it a night, they were both struggling to keep their eyes open by that point. Merlin had even fallen silent and still, Arthur had to keep checking he was awake as the silence from Merlin was a little unnerving.

A car had arrived but it just sat there, no one got out of it. "It must be waiting to pick someone up" Arthur said. It was another fifteen minutes before anyone left the building. Two figures emerged and conversed in the alley outside. The lights from the car and from the open doorway of the building illuminated the pair. Arthur didn't recognise the male figure but the other was clearly Nimueh. Unfortunately they were too far away to hear anything that was being said. A few moments later the male figure returned to the building and Nimueh got in the car.

The black car remained stationary for a further few minutes before moving off, Arthur followed at safe distance. Being sure to keep the car in front in his vision at all times while making sure he was not close enough to be seen.

They were heading in the direction of Highgate and Queen's woods, "I don't understand, why is she going towards the crime scenes?" Merlin asked.

"I don't know, but they are avoiding all of the patrols" Arthur pointed out.

"Surely Nimueh is not stupid enough to conduct her business in an area that has a high police presence."

"I don't know, the killer managed to get by us every time." As Arthur said it he felt his stomach sink, "What if this is the killer?"

"We haven't seen anyone else get in the car."

"Unless the killer was already in the car." Arthur said, "The killer was interrupted last time even without a leak the killer would have known we were looking for a red Ford, he could have switched cars."

At that moment the car in front switched its headlights off and turned off into the woods. "Shit! It's him, call in back up tell them silent approach, we don't want them scaring him off before we can catch him in the act." Arthur said as he pulled up on a side road. "We will have to follow on foot from here otherwise he will know we are following."

They followed slowly and silently with guns drawn keeping their ears and eyes open, alert for anything.

By the time they had caught up the car the killer had already dragged Nimueh out and had hoisted her up high into a tree so that she was almost at eye level with the killer.

Arthur and Merlin hid behind the car keeping the killer in direct line of sight at all times, the killer was cutting off the last remains of Nimueh's clothing, tossing them into a nearby pile.

The killer was dressed completely in black, including a ski mask that hid any identifying features.

Nimueh was starting to struggle as she came round, the killer took a step back to watch her struggle.

"Should we not move in?" Merlin whispered.

"Not yet, at the moment he could claim this was a prank gone too far, we need to catch him with a weapon in his hand." Arthur whispered back.

"That's cutting it short" Merlin said.

"I know, but we also know he likes to play with his victims that should give us the time we need"

"Yes, but he plays with them by scalping them" Merlin whispered.

"We move in as soon as he produces a weapon" Arthur insisted.

Merlin huffed, but Arthur didn't want to take any chances with this case, so many people had gotten off on technicalities lately Arthur wanted to make sure that The Hunter wasn't going to be one of them.

The killer started circling Nimueh chuckling quietly as her struggles increased. He would give her an occasional push making her swing madly on the branch.

Eventually the killer stopped behind Nimueh, unknowingly facing Arthur and Merlin. The killer traced his gloved fingers over the contours of Nimueh's body making her flinch. The killer traced his fingers down over her breasts down over her face lingering on her lips for a moment before reaching into her hair and roughly grabbing fistfuls of her hair, stilling her at the same time.

The killer then reached into his pocket and pulled out a long sharp knife that glinted in the light from the car, Arthur knew that this was his moment.

"FREEZE" Arthur shouted coming round from the car levelling his gun at the killers head with Merlin following suit from the other side of the car.

"Drop the knife" Merlin shouted.

"And slowly step away with both hands on your head." Arthur added.

The killer looked up and froze.

"Drop the knife and step away" Arthur repeated. "We won't hesitate to shoot you"

The killer moved his hand with knife in quickly to rest on Nimueh's neck. "Drop the knife!" Arthur said again.

Arthur could hear his backup approaching nosily behind them. "You are surrounded" Merlin said. "There is no escape." As their back up fanned out behind them.

The killer used that moment to quickly flick his knife, blood spraying out from Nimueh's neck, and turning round before running off into the woods. He did not get far, a loud pop echoed throughout the woods and the killer hit the deck.

Arthur turned to Merlin preparing to shout at him "I didn't kill him, I only wounded him to prevent him from running." Arthur nodded and they both proceeded to run to the killer on the floor, while the rest of the team ran towards Nimueh.

The killer was trying to get up and find his knife that he had dropped on the floor. Arthur kicked the knife away and trained his gun on the killers head again. "Don't move"

Merlin moved in behind the killer and wrenched his arms behind his back forcing the killer back down on the floor chest first. Once Merlin had cuffed him and Arthur was confident he was secure he dragged the killer up on to his knees ignoring the cry of pain as Arthur made him put weight on his wounded leg.

"It's about time we find out who you are, don't you think?" Arthur said, he reached forward and ripped the ski mask of the killer's head taking several hairs with it.

Everyone around gasped when they saw who it was, Arthur just stared in shock and horror.

"F-Father?"

13 | Page


	6. A New Prisoner

**CHAPTER 6**

**A NEW PRISONER**

Arthur stumbled backwards in a state of shock, barely managing not to trip over. He stood still as his world crashed down around him. The flurry of activity around him was nothing more than a distant buzz. He vaguely registered his father calling his name as he was being dragged off, before the buzz descended again.

His father! All this time they were chasing his own father. His father had killed people in cold blood. His father killed five people!

They had caught him red handed, there was no denying it, as much as he wanted too. His father was a killer. His father had always been a hard difficult man, but not once did Arthur think he was capable of something like this.

His father was the Chief Superintendent, he was supposed to catch the criminals not become one himself. He was not supposed to take the law into his own hands. It went against everything Arthur stood for, everything the force stood for.

His own father!

Arthur's mind was stuck on those thoughts, the same words circling his mind again and again.

Arthur was unsure how long he stood there for, but when he focused in on his surroundings again there were very few people left in the area. But Merlin was one of them, stood a couple of meters away, waiting patiently for him with his eyes locked on Arthur.

Arthur took a deep shaky breath

"Merlin?" Arthur whispered.

Merlin came a few steps closer to stand next to Arthur. "I'm here," Merlin said gently, "Are you alright?"

Arthur shook his head, "No," he croaked "My father killed five people."

"Um…Six"

"Six?" Arthur repeated,

"I'm sorry but Nimueh didn't make it," Merlin said.

Arthur ran his hand through his hair grabbing a fist full of hair and squeezed his eyes shut. "I…I…don't understand," Arthur stuttered. "Why?"

"I'm sorry Arthur, but that's not a question I can answer," Merlin said, keeping his voice gentle. "I wish I had some answers for you but I don't."

Arthur's hand dropped back down to his side. Of course Merlin didn't have the answers, how could he. This was his father and he didn't even have the answers.

"It wasn't easy, but I have managed to put CSI off for a few hours, I thought you might want to be there when they go through your father's apartment" Merlin said before Arthur's mind could descend into the same internal rant.

"Thank you" Arthur said, although he wasn't sure he wanted to be there at all when they went through his father's things and dissect his apartment. His father's apartment was always immaculate, even Arthur wasn't allowed to touch half of the things in there. Arthur wasn't sure how he felt about strangers going in and touching everything but at the same time he knew it had to be done.

His reluctance must have shown on his face "You need to be there Arthur," Merlin said, "You need some answer's, you may be able to find some there." Arthur nodded his agreement "Plus you know your father better than anyone, you may be able to help"

"It would seem I never really knew my father after all though does it? I never thought my fat-Uther would ever be capable of this." Arthur no longer wanted to refer to him as his father, he was ashamed to be the son of a serial killer. After all Uther's talk about the family name, it was Uther who brought shame to it. For the first time in his life he was ashamed to be a Pendragon.

"You still knew him better than anyone else Arthur." Merlin put his hand and Arthur's shoulder, "No one saw this coming Arthur, why should you?"

"Because he was my father, because I knew him better than anyone." Arthur said throwing back Merlin's words.

"Nobody wants to believe that the people we love are ever capable of something like this Arthur." Merlin said as he squeezed his shoulder. "Come on, give me your keys and I will take you home."

"My keys?"

"You are in no fit state to drive Arthur."

Arthur sighed and nodded, and handed Merlin his car keys. Any other time Arthur would have argued, but not this time, he knew Merlin was right.

They began to make their way back up the path. Arthur paused at the tree where Nimueh was. She was gone now, probably taken to Lance's lab, but there was still blood all over the floor which a few of the forensics team were still cleaning up.

He remembered his fat-Uther slashing her throat before he ran, everyone saw it. That was it then, there was no denying it. His father was The Hunter.

"Arthur?" Merlin called from a few steps ahead.

Arthur cleared his throat before answering, "Coming"

Arthur didn't remember much about the ride home, one moment he was leaving the crime scene the next he was being ushered into his apartment by Merlin, and being gently pushed on to his sofa. Merlin made him a cup of tea. Arthur had drank most of it when he realised there was something off about his tea, and frowned into his cup. Whiskey, Arthur thought belatedly, there was whiskey in his tea. "I thought it would help you relax and sleep," Merlin said, from the chair where he was watching Arthur intently.

Arthur rubbed his hand over his face. Sleep was the furthest thing from Arthur's mind at the moment, despite the fact that his body was sinking quickly into his sofa.

"Go to bed Arthur," Merlin said gently once Arthur had finished his tea.

Arthur shook his head, "I really don't think I could sleep at the moment"

"Try, your body is exhausted, if you are lucky you may get in about three hours sleep." Arthur nodded but didn't move, he just stared blankly at the wall ahead of him. "Unless you want to talk about it?" Merlin asked.

"No, no I'm going" Arthur said quickly, he didn't want to think about it let alone talk about it. Arthur got up and moved to his bedroom, his body moved on automatic as he got ready for bed. Despite thinking he would not be able to sleep, Arthur was out the second his head touched the pillow.

* * *

Arthur jerked awake when the sunlight hit his face a few hours later. Arthur scowled at the window wondering why he had forgotten to draw the curtains the night before. Then the memories of the night before hit him like a punch in the stomach. That's right, they caught The Hunter and it was his father.

Arthur lay there for a while trying to prepare himself for the events that were sure to follow that day, first of which was to go to Uther's apartment to find evidence.

Deciding that no amount of time could prepare him, Arthur dragged himself out of bed and into the shower.

Arthur entered his front room after getting dressed only to be met with a pair sock clad feet hanging of the end of his sofa. He moved round to find Merlin curled up on the sofa under his jacket and drooling into Arthur's cushions.

Arthur felt a twinge of guilt he had been so out of it last night, he hadn't spared a thought for Merlin who must have been equally exhausted.

He reached down and gently shook Merlin's shoulder, "Merlin," after a few more shakes Merlin's eye finally begun to flutter open as he blinked himself awake.

"Arthur?" Merlin frowned.

"You're drooling all over my cushions."

"Sorry" Merlin said, as he shifted and wiped his mouth on the back of his hand.

"Why didn't you go home?" Arthur asked.

"I wanted to stay and make sure you were alright"

"You're a good friend Merlin," Arthur smiled gently.

"I know, I'm the best," Merlin smiled back cheekily.

"Well I wouldn't go that far," Arthur said lightly, falling into their familiar banter, "Don't want to inflate your ego."

"Oh don't worry Arthur, it's nowhere near as big as yours" Merlin laughed.

Arthur yanked the cushion from under Merlin's head and threw it down onto Merlin's face. "Go get washed up, I will make us a coffee and some breakfast," Arthur laughed.

Before he could make it too the kitchen the cushion sailed far above his head and landed several feet in front of him. "Your co-ordination sucks Merlin" Arthur chuckled and stepped over the cushion.

"It's early," Merlin whined.

"Yes, well lots to do today," the light hearted atmosphere was immediately replace with stifling tension, as they both realised the events of the day.

"Right," Merlin said, as he heaved himself up, rubbing the back of his neck.

An hour later they were making their way to Uther's apartment. Lance's team were already there. Arthur was grateful that it was Lance dealing with Uther's apartment and not a bunch of strangers, at least Lance would try and be as respectful as he could. It wasn't really Uther's things Arthur was worried it was his mother's things that Uther had kept. Some of which Arthur had never even seen.

Arthur sat and stared up at Uther's apartment from the car when they parked up. Arthur was relieved that this was not the place he grew up in. Uther had sold that house as soon as Arthur moved out, Arthur was surprised that Uther hadn't sold it straight after his mother died.

"Arthur?" Merlin asked from beside him distracting him from his thoughts. "Are you ready?"

"As ready as I'm ever going to be."

They found Lance in the main living room bent over the coffee table with his equipment spread out.

"What do we have Lance?" Arthur asked, slipping into professional mode.

Lance looked up and hesitated before answering, "We have found a display case that had a few antique knifes in, two of which are missing, but we have those in evidence. The rest are clean."

Arthur mentally kicked himself, he knew Uther had a set of antique knifes passed down from Uther's father, but he never made the connection when they found an antique knife at Cenred's crime scene.

"You couldn't have known Arthur," Merlin said gently.

Arthur sighed, "I knew he had these and I knew we had a leak, and I knew an antique knife was the murder weapon, it should have been enough to raise suspicion."

"That doesn't mean you would suspect your father, if we found someone who was murdered with a rolling pin it doesn't mean I'm going to automatically suspect my mother." Arthur frowned, not getting what Merlin was on about, "My mother runs a bakery," Merlin added.

"I still should have made some sort of connection." Arthur insisted. "Anything else?" Arthur asked Lance before Merlin could reply.

"Nothing yet, but we have only covered this room so far."

"Right" Arthur said, and started to make his way to Uther's office.

"I'm sorry Arthur, but I can't let you go in there yet." Lance said, "Technically you shouldn't really be here at all" Lance said apologetically.

"What? But I'm the lead investigator."

"Conflict of interest"

"So, What? I'm just supposed to stand here and watch?" Arthur exclaimed.

"Sorry but yes. Until we are done at least."

"What about me? I don't have any conflict of interest," Merlin asked.

"You're okay, but I would still rather you wait until I have been through it first," Lance replied. "I'm sorry but given the high profile of this case I would rather not take any chances, we need to make sure this is done by the book."

Arthur sighed and nodded his agreement at Lance. Lance was right Uther was the Chief Superintendent which meant they were going to be watched very carefully by his superiors and the press.

"So far we can only link Uther to Cenred and Nimueh, we need hard evidence to link him to the other victims." Merlin said.

"If we could find the trophies that would clinch it." Arthur agreed. Arthur couldn't believe they were trying to find evidence on his father, never in a million years did he think he would have to do this. Everywhere he looked he could see Uther, Arthur wasn't sure he could do this, not to his own father.

"I going outside to get some air, call me if you need me." Arthur said striding towards the door.

"Are you okay?" Merlin asked concerned.

"Fine Merlin, just need some air." Arthur muttered.

As soon as he was outside, Arthur took deep breaths. He needed to focus, he had to look at this as any other case at the moment. He knew Lance and Merlin were right, he needed to keep it together otherwise he would be taken off the case. He couldn't take that chance, Arthur needed to see this through. He was going to have to fight tooth and claw to remain on the case as it was, he couldn't fall apart now and make matters worse.

After a few moments Arthur was starting to feel a little more composed, and just in time too as Leon and Morgana choose that moment to arrive. "Morgana! I thought you were under police protection?" Arthur said as they approached. Arthur noticed that Leon and Morgana were holding hands even though they were trying to hide it behind their bodies. Arthur smiled to himself, at least some good had come from this.

"There is no need any more now that Nimueh….." Morgana tailed off. Right, now that Nimueh was dead, "Is it true? What they are saying? That Uther….?"

"Yes it's true, I was there when he…when he killed Nimueh." Arthur admitted.

"Arthur I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault," Arthur said.

"I know but I'm still sorry," Morgana said looking up to the building behind Arthur.

"I'm sorry Morgana but I can't let you in."

"He was my father too!" Morgana exclaimed.

"I know," Arthur said gently, "But you are a reporter-"

"I not here as a reporter, I am here as your sister," Morgana cut in.

"I know and I'm grateful, but I still can't let you in. Uther was the Chief Superintendent we will be watched very carefully, I can't take the chance of letting you in." Arthur said repeating Lance's words back to Morgana. "I shouldn't even be here, this whole thing is just a giant mess."

The next thing Arthur knew he had his arms full of Morgana, he stiffened for a moment until he realised she was giving him a rare hug. God's he must have looked pitiful if Morgana was hugging him. "You know where I am if you need me." She whispered into his ear.

Arthur nodded, "I know."

"Is Merlin here?" Morgana asked when she pulled away.

"Yeah he is still inside."

"Good as long as you have someone with you." Morgana said, "I still can't believe it, I mean I know that we didn't get on...but I never thought…."

"None of us did," Arthur said, "And we suspected a leak, I never thought that leak would be Uther." Arthur admitted, confident that Morgana wouldn't report it.

"Have you been to see him yet?" Morgana asked.

"Not yet"

"Are you going too?"

"I'm not sure" Arthur answered honestly, he really wasn't, he didn't think he could face Uther at all, certainly not today.

"Well I'm not, I not sure I ever want to see him again after this." Morgana said, Arthur didn't point out that she actually couldn't while he was in custody at the station. "Are you sure you're okay Arthur?"

Arthur thought about lying but knew there was no way he could get away with it, especially with Morgana, she saw through everything. "As well as I can be given the situation."

"I know I don't say this often Arthur but I do care about you, you know" Morgana said quietly.

Arthur raised his eyebrows in surprise "Not getting sentimental on me are you Morgana?"

"Well don't get used to it," Morgana huffed, "I'm certain it won't last"

"That's probably a good thing, it doesn't suit you." Arthur laughed.

Morgana retaliated by punching him on the arm, hard, "Ow" Arthur winced rubbing his arm.

"You deserved that," Morgana smirked.

"Worth it" Arthur smiled, as Morgana walked back over to Leon who was waiting by the car, their hands immediately searching out for each other, "Oh and Morgana!" Arthur called, "It's about time," he said gesturing his hand between the two of them.

"Your turn next, brother dearest," Morgana smirked, as they both got back into the car. Arthur shook his head in disbelief, he couldn't believe Morgana still thought there was something between him and Merlin.

Arthur headed back into Uther's apartment feeling a little calmer than he did before. Both Lance and Merlin had disappeared, probably into another room, there were still a few CSI guys hanging about but Arthur ignored them and sat down on the sofa and stared blankly at his mother's tapestry above the fireplace.

For the first time in his life Arthur was thankful that his mother wasn't around to see what Uther had become. But not for the first time he wondered what life would have been like had she lived. Would Uther have become a serial killer? According to Leon that possibility had always been in him.

Arthur would have had a much happier childhood, of that much he was certain. From what he remembered of his mother, she loved him fiercely and never hesitated to tell him that every day. And Arthur loved his mother just as much and would have done anything for her, but he was still glad she wasn't here to see Uther for what he really was.

Arthur's eyes focused on his mother's tapestry, Arthur frowned, there was something not quite right about it but he couldn't see what. He got up and moved in closer staring intently at the design. The colours were off, patches of the greens in the fields were brighter than the rest, the same with the sky and the greys of the castle building. On closer inspection he noticed the textures were different too. Arthur was certain it had not always been like this.

"LANCE!"

Lance came running from the direction of Uther's office with Merlin close behind him and an equipment case in hand "Arthur? What's wrong?" they said in unison.

"This picture, there's something wrong with it." Arthur pointed to the artwork.

Lance hurried over and came so close to it his nose was almost pressed against the glass "You're right" Lance said after a few moments, "I'm sorry Arthur, but I'm going to have to open his up." Arthur nodded and stepped aside to give Lance some space.

Lance lifted his mother's artwork off the wall and placed it face down onto the coffee table and examined the back. "This has been opened recently" Lance said, and he gently prised the back off the frame. Lance took his portable microscope from his case and gently moved the fabric under the lenses to take a closer look at the discoloured threads. "It's hair!" Lance exclaimed. "Dyed hair, I need to run tests to be certain but I'm pretty sure it's human hair."

Arthur felt the blood drain from his face, his mother's tapestries! Arthur rushed to the hallway to where the tapestry of a tall majestic king hung. It was the same, the colours in the king's robes and crown were distorted. He ran to Uther's office to check the one of the sword rising up from out of a lake. He didn't care if he was allowed in or not, Merlin close on his heel. He didn't need to get close to know that this one was the same, now he knew what he was looking for it stood out, glaring like a flash light.

"Oh God!" Arthur felt sick, he wasn't sure what was worse, the fact that Uther had put human hair in to the works or the fact that Uther had destroyed his mother's life's work. Arthur rushed out of the nearest exit and vomited the instant he was outside. Arthur was thankful Uther lived on the ground floor he wouldn't have made it outside otherwise.

It wasn't long before his stomach became empty and his retching eased, he first became aware of someone rubbing his back. Normally Arthur would be embarrassed about being seen in such a position but he simply didn't have any room for embarrassment within him.

Before he could look up to see who it was, his eyes picked up on some buckets in the corner the back garden that were stained different colours, they had clearly used to dye the hair before putting it into his mother's art.

Arthur didn't dare get closer, the thought of what could be in the bottom of the buckets caused another round of dry retching. A glass of water hovered on the edge of Arthur's vision when he finally stopped. He grabbed the glass and gulped down the water to ease his burning throat.

Arthur's limbs felt like jelly as he was helped over to a nearby bench where he sat and panted to get his breath back.

Arthur turned his head, not surprised to find Merlin sat next to him, "I was hoping to have those on my walls someday."

"I know nothing I say can make it any better Arthur, but for what's it is worth I'm sorry."

Arthur nodded and sighed, "Take me home Merlin I can't stand being here anymore." Arthur said handing Merlin his keys before he could ask. Arthur knew he had no chance of driving at the moment, not when he felt like he could barely stand.

"Okay, I will just let Lance know we are leaving." Merlin said softly. Arthur managed to pull himself onto his shaky legs before Merlin came back, "We will go out round the side gate so you don't have to go through the place again." Merlin said, for which Arthur was relieved, he really didn't want to go back through the apartment and see what had become of his mother's tapestries once more.

The ride back to Arthur's was silent, Arthur just wanted to curl up in his bed and wake up from this nightmare. "You don't have to stay" Arthur said.

"I'm not leaving." Merlin replied sternly, "I will sit in silence for the rest of the day if you like, but I am not leaving you alone Arthur." Merlin said in a tone that left no room for argument.

Arthur nodded, at a loss for words he patted and squeezed Merlin's shoulder before getting out of the car. For the rest of the day Arthur wallowed in his own self-pity, and Merlin stayed true to his word and remained silent only speaking when spoken too.

After dinner, which Merlin got for them, Arthur noticed that Merlin did this a lot despite his protests on his first day. Arthur took a long soak in the shower in an attempt to clear his mind.

Arthur couldn't continue like this, he couldn't wallow any longer, he was completely useless to everyone like this. He was a Pendragon and Pendragon's do not mope. He was going to make sure he got some sleep and tomorrow he would confront Uther, tomorrow he would be prepared to deal with whatever was thrown at him. He was a Detective Inspector just because this case was more personal than others didn't mean he couldn't remain professional.

With his mind set he got out of the shower and decided to spend a couple of hours with Merlin first. Merlin had been his rock over the last day or two, God has it only been two days? It felt much longer to Arthur. Arthur was extremely grateful for Merlin's presence, more than he could say. Merlin was a brilliant partner and a loyal friend, not that he would ever tell Merlin this of course.

Merlin seemed to sense the change in attitude in Arthur for he seemed to relax then of course the babbling started. But too Arthur's surprise he found he didn't mind it at all. It fact he found it to be a great distraction for him, which thinking about it was probably Merlin's plan all along.

They spoke for the rest of the night. Merlin spoke about his past in Ealdor, about his mother and what a kind caring person she was, about his best friend and the mischief they got up. Merlin told him all about Will's recent woman problems and Gaius's lack of woman problems.

Arthur was happy for the old man. Arthur used to see Gaius quite often when he was younger and Gaius worked with Uther, but as time went on he saw him less and less. It had been a while since he saw him last, Arthur felt he should make more of an effort to see him, and vowed to himself that he would from now on.

They called it a night around midnight and Arthur gave Merlin one of his pillows and dug out some spare bedding so that he would more comfortable. Arthur went to bed feeling much more relaxed and content than he had expected too.

* * *

Merlin was the first to wake up in the morning, he sat up and winced at all the aches and pains in his back and neck, Arthur's sofa might have been expensive but it was not made for sleeping on. And after two nights on the sofa Merlin's body was starting to protest.

He went to the bathroom for a quick wash and to wake himself up a bit. He glimpsed himself the mirror and saw dark shadows under his eyes. If he ended up staying over again he might as well sleep on the floor, the floor might actually be more comfortable.

By the time he came out Arthur was up and the wonderful smell of coffee drew him into the kitchen where Arthur was making breakfast, in a pair of old joggings and t-shirt. Merlin was surprised, he had never seen Arthur in anything other than a suit, he was beginning to think he slept in them.

"Morning," Merlin yawned, and sat down at the large table in the middle of the kitchen. Merlin still couldn't get over the size of Arthur's apartment. It was twice the size of Gaius's house.

"Morning Merlin," Arthur replied. Arthur winced in sympathy at Merlin, "I guess I should have warned you about the sofa?" Merlin waved it off, he didn't mind really not as long as Arthur was okay.

He really didn't want to leave Arthur alone, not for a minute. He was worried that Arthur would do something stupid like drink his way through his ample drinks cabinet. Merlin quickly gave Arthur the once over while he was distracted. Arthur looked a lot perkier this morning, maybe he was over the worst of it, though Merlin knew that this was something you never really got over.

"It's fine Arthur don't worry about it, I don't mind. Although I'm surprised you don't have a second bedroom in a place like this."

"I do, but I use it as an office and the third room has a lot of gym equipment in it. I don't really get a lot of guests," Arthur confessed.

"Oh"

"What do you want for breakfast?" Arthur asked.

"Coffee"

"And?"

"Coffee"

"Merlin-"

"Coffee"

Arthur chuckled, "Here," he said placing a large steaming coffee under Merlin's nose.

Merlin inhaled the scent before taking a large sip, "Ummm. This is good coffee," Merlin groaned at the heavenly taste. Merlin could quiet happily live of this stuff.

Arthur froze for a moment before clearing his throat, "Yes, well it's not the instant crap you normally drink so of course it's good."

"Sorry, not all of us can afford to get it imported princess," Merlin grinned cheekily.

"It's not imported _Mer_lin," Arthur huffed, "Just proper peculated coffee."

"In that case hook it up too my veins please," Merlin laughed.

"I will try again, what do you want for breakfast?"

"My mum used to make pancakes on a Sunday morning," Merlin hummed, he could really go for some pancakes right now.

"Scrambled eggs on toast it is." Arthur said turned to place some bread in the toaster, "Besides its Friday not Sunday."

"It is?" Has it only been two days since they caught Uther? "I guess I must have lost track of the days."

"Some detective you are" Arthur laughed.

"Hey! I am a good detective."

"I know," Arthur replied gently.

"Ugh, There is no way I am going to the pub tonight" Merlin admitted. He would probably be asleep half way through his first pint, and he didn't trust Gwaine not to do something embarrassing like draw on his face.

"Definitely not," Arthur agreed.

"So what are the plans for today?" Merlin asked once they had eaten.

"First we need to convince Uther's replacement to keep us on the case, and then go and see Lance and see what else he found or didn't find yesterday." Arthur answered stiffly. Merlin noticed that Arthur was no longer calling Uther 'father'. It wasn't hard to understand why, Merlin would probably do the same in Arthur's position.

"How are you holding up?" Merlin asked concerned.

"I've been better," Arthur admitted. "I still can't believe it all, even though I saw it all with my own eyes."

"That's understandable Arthur, you were betrayed by the one person you trusted most, it's not an easy thing to accept, it will take time."

Arthur leapt up from out of his chair, "I don't want to talk about it Merlin," Arthur snapped, running his hands through his hair, "Let's just get ready and go to the station."

"Actually," Merlin said, before Arthur could storm out of the kitchen, "Do you mind if I go home for a little bit first? I really need a shower and too change my clothes, I've had these on for two days. And I could do with checking on Gaius."

"Fine, I will meet you at the station then." Arthur huffed and quickly left the room.

Merlin really wanted to go home and talk to Gaius, he really didn't know what to do for the best he was hoping that Gaius could give him some advice. Merlin drained the last of his coffee and quietly made his way out.

"Merlin?" Gaius called when he got home.

"Yeah, it's me." Merlin found Gaius in the front room reading, "Sorry I've been away these last couple of days." Merlin said as he flopped down on to the sofa, which was infinitely more comfortable than Arthur's even though it was probably three times as old and three times as cheap.

"It's fine my boy, how is Arthur?"

"Not good," Merlin sighed. "Is it on the news already?"

Gaius nodded, "Uther! I can scarcely believe it."

"It was him alright, we caught red handed. He killed Nimueh right in front of us and we found the hair of his victims entwined into Arthur's mother's tapestries."

"Ygraine's work!" Gaius said shocked.

Merlin nodded, "Arthur's devastated, he was in shock yesterday and today…I don't know, I think he is trying to hide it. He is not doing a good job of it, but he is either trying to hide or bury his feelings and I don't know what to do."

"There is not a lot you can do Merlin," Gaius said gently, "Nothing you say or do will make any of it any better all you can do is be there for him." Merlin was afraid Gaius would say something like that. But it didn't feel like it was enough he wanted to do more. He would do anything if he could just take the pain away even if it was only for a little bit.

"You really care about him, don't you?" Gaius asked.

"Of course, he's my friend."

"No, it's more than that, you care about him more than most, you like him don't you?"

Merlin sighed and nodded. He couldn't deny his own feelings to himself anymore, seeing Arthur in so much pain really tore at him, it actually hurt to see Arthur so devastated like that. All Merlin wanted to do was too wrap his arms around him and protect him from everything and everyone. "What am I going to do Gaius?"

"You ask him out," Gaius said simply.

"W-What?!"

"Really Merlin, all you do is talk about him, you should ask him out."

"What? I can't do that,"

"Why ever not?"

"Because…..because it's Arthur, he's my partner."

"So."

"So!...So….." Merlin was lost for words, there was no way he could ask Arthur out, "I have to work with him."

"So, I work with Alice and you told me to ask her out."

"But that's completely different." Merlin insisted, he couldn't believe his own argument was being used against him.

"How so?"

"Alice liked you and it was obvious, Arthur isn't even gay."

"Do you know that for sure?"

"Well no," Merlin admitted. Arthur didn't talk about women but he didn't talk about men either, in fact Arthur never talked about anyone on a romantic level.

"Well then, you don't know he isn't"

"Arthur doesn't like me, not in that way." Merlin said sadly.

"It doesn't look like that from where I'm sitting. Arthur let you see him when he was emotional weakened, that's big. Arthur is the type of person to never let his feelings show for anyone, the fact Arthur let you in says a lot. I may not have known Arthur very well but I do know that about him," Gaius informed him.

Merlin frowned, he wasn't so sure. Arthur had been in such a state of shock he was probably unaware that Merlin was even there half the time. And when he did it was Merlin that refused to leave. But then they did spend all night talking and bonding or at least Merlin liked to think so.

"Ask him," Gaius insisted.

"Maybe," Merlin thought, "But not now, Arthur has enough to deal with at the moment and not until I'm sure, I don't want to risk our friendship or our working relationship when I am not sure how he feels about it. I have just got him to accept me I don't want to ruin it now."

Gaius sighed, "Fair enough"

"I'm going to shower and change, then head back to the station." Merlin said getting up.

"Okay, I will probably be gone by the time you get home."

"Gone? Where are you going?"

"Alice and I are going to Ealdor to visit your mother, remember?"

"Oh," Merlin smiled sheepishly, he had forgotten about that, "That's this weekend?"

"Yes"

"Things are going well with you and Alice then?" Merlin grinned.

"They are indeed, I have to thank you for encouraging me to ask her"

"Oh, you're welcome," Merlin beamed.

"Now if only you would take your own advice"

"We'll see. Send mum my love and have a good time." Merlin said, and ducked into the bathroom before Gaius could start again.

* * *

The moment Arthur walked into the station he was ambushed. First by Gwen, who stuck to him like glue, next was Gwaine and then Percy. It took him almost half an hour to shake everyone off and reach his office. Arthur understood that they meant well, but he could really do without it at the moment.

He didn't have long before he was interrupted again. "Enter!" he shouted at the timid knock at the door. Cedric's head popped round the door, "Er Sir, the Acting Chief Superintendent wants to see you Sir."

"I will be right there." Arthur replied shortly, hoping it would get rid of Cedric. Arthur smirked to himself when Cedric fled.

Arthur had no idea who the A.C.S was, but knew he would have a fight on his hands in order to remain on the case. Decided it was best not to keep them waiting he quickly made his way to the office, which was just next to Uther's office that was now swarming with C.S.I guys.

After knocking and being granted access, Arthur introduced himself, "D.I Arthur Pendragon, you wished to see me Sir?"

"Indeed I did young Pendragon," Replied the man at the desk. The man appeared to be in his mid-fifty's and had more lines on his face than Uther. While the man looked stern, there was a warmth in his eyes. Although it was clear this was a man not to crossed, Arthur hoped to stay on his good side.

"I am Acting Chief Superintendent John Kilgharrah, first I would like to offer my congratulations on capturing The Hunter and solving the case and I would also like to offer my commiserations on finding out just who The Hunter was."

"Thank you Sir." Arthur said surprised. This was the first time someone had actually congratulated him on solving the case. "Although some of the credit must go to my partner D.S Merlin Emrys." Arthur said ignoring the last part of Kilgharrah's statement.

"I will make sure it does," Kilgharrah said with a hint of a smile. "Okay I will get down to the nasty bit, I should pull you off the case as you have a severe conflict of interest."

"Sir! With all due res-" Arthur started only to be cut off when Kilgharrah raised his hand indicating him to stop.

"I said I should, but I'm not going too." Kilgharrah clarified, surprising Arthur. He expected to have to argue his way back on to the case.

"Sir?"

"But I am going to make D.S Emrys the lead investigator on this case from now on," Arthur was tempted to argue that point. It wasn't that he didn't trust Merlin, he did, impeccably so, but this was his case and he has always taken the lead. Kilgharrah must have noticed the hesitation, "That is my offer, take it or leave it."

It was better than nothing Arthur thought, at least this way he would still be involved. "I will take it. Thank you Sir," Arthur nodded.

"In all fairness young Pendragon," Arthur bristled at the word young he was twenty seven but Kilgharrah made him feel like a kid, "The case is more or less done, you have caught the perpetrator and substantial evidence has been found linking him to all the victims. All that remains is too type up your reports and give evidence in court when the time comes. Unless that is going to be a problem for you?"

"No Sir, it won't be a problem."

"Really?!" Kilgharrah said raising his eyebrows, "You will be giving evidence against your father after all."

"Granted, I know it's not going to be easy Sir." Arthur said honestly, "But I know I can do this, I have to do this. Not only is it the right thing to do but I really need to see this through for myself Sir."

Kilgharrah nodded "I'm glad you feel that way because there are still some questions I would like answered. This red car for example, there has been no trace of it and I would like to know how he obtained the drugs he used."

"Yes Sir." Arthur had already thought of this. The car is particularly puzzling as he knew his father would never own such a car, it was too common for him and Uther considered himself to be better than anything common.

"They are not essential for a conviction given the amount we already have but it would be nice to tie up the loose ends."

"Yes Sir."

"Your record so far speaks for itself which is why I am allowing you to remain on the case but be warned we will be watching you closely"

"Yes Sir," Arthur expected that anyway.

"And also," Kilgharrah hesitated, "I am going to schedule you in for a couple of meetings with the station's counsellor."

"What?! But I'm fine!" Arthur protested.

"You have just found out that your father is a serial killer, there is no way you can't be unaffected."

"But-"

"Think of it as a formality Arthur, if you really are fine then there won't be a problem, will there?"

"No Sir" Arthur gritted out.

"But I will keep it off your record, so it won't reflect on you in any way."

"Thank you Sir. Will that be all?"

"That will be all, you're dismissed." Kilgharrah confirmed.

Arthur left and threw himself into his chair when he reached his office. Arthur knew that could have gone a whole lot worse and he should be grateful that he was allowed to remain on the case but the thought of having to see the counsellor grated on him. He got on really well with Mithian when he had to see her after being shot but he knew this time was not going to be so easy.

Merlin arrived at the station half an hour later looking much more refreshed even though he still had the dark shadows under his eyes.

"You are too take point on the case from now on," Arthur informed him once he sat down at his tiny desk.

Merlin's eyes widened, "Me?! But, wait, does this mean they have taken you off the case?"

"No, they just thought it would be better if you take the lead given the circumstances."

"But-"

"Really Merlin, it won't be that difficult most of the hard work is done for you." Arthur snapped. "Even you can't screw it up at this point."

"I have screwed anything up yet." Merlin snapped back.

"Yet! It's only a matter of time."

"That's hardly fair Arthur."

"Fair!" Arthur shouted, attracting the attention of the people around him, "Nothing about this is fair Merlin, after all it's hardly fair that I'm still stuck with you!" Arthur snarled ignored the hurt look that flashed across Merlin's face.

"Arthur!" Someone behind him shouted.

Arthur turned round only to bump into Leon who was stood right behind him. "Have you got a minute Arthur?"

Arthur didn't answer, he marched straight back into his office knowing full well that Leon would follow him.

"I understand you are angry Arthur but don't take it out on Merlin, he doesn't deserve it." Leon said the second the door was closed.

Arthur sagged down into his chair trying to hide his shame. He knew Merlin didn't deserve it. If it hadn't been for Merlin over the last couple of days Arthur was sure he would have fallen apart, but he was just so angry.

"If you feel the need to lash out, at least direct your anger at the person who deserves it." Leon added once he sat opposite Arthur. "Not at your friends who are trying to help you." Leon said calmly who was watching Arthur very carefully.

Arthur sighed, "I know, sorry" he mumbled.

"It's not me you need to apologise too."

Arthur huffed at the thought of having to apologise to Merlin, he knew he should, but he also knew he hurt Merlin's feelings and he would have to apologise properly, something Arthur was never very good at.

Uther! Uther was the cause of all of this, Uther was the one he was angry with. Angry with the fact that Uther had betrayed him and killed six people in cold blood. Angry that Uther had pretty much set Arthur up to fail and furious that he had destroyed his mothers work. His mother's work was Uther's most prized possessions, and he had ruined them. How? How could he do something like this?

"I still can't believe he would tarnish my mother's things like that," Arthur said defeatedly.

"Uther has had a psychotic break Arthur, I'm afraid not much of anything will make any sense." Leon soothed. "I have spoken to Lance this morning and there is one of your mother's tapestries that was left untouched."

Arthur's head snapped up, "Really? Which one?"

"Yes," Leon nodded, "Though it looks like he was going to use it next. It is the one with a king and his knights gathered around a round table. Lance said you would be able to get that one back when they have finished processing and cataloguing all the evidence. If you still want it?"

"Of course I want it," Arthur said quickly. He had assumed they would all be destroyed Arthur felt the little relief ease his shoulders a little. There was one untouched! He would get that one back if it killed him.

"It might take some time but we will see you get it back."

"Thank you Leon."

Leon nodded, "If you do decide to go and see him," Leon said not needing to clarify who '_him'_ was, "Be warned that you might not get all the answers you are looking for, after getting caught he will let all pretences drop and may well appear a bit deranged."

"I will bare that in mind but I will go and see him before he his transferred to…..to proper holding cells." Arthur couldn't say the word prison but he knew that is where Uther was going.

"I will leave you too it, call me if you need anything Arthur, we are your friends and we all here for you including Merlin." Leon said as he got up.

"I know, I will and thank you Leon"

"Anytime Arthur," Leon said before leaving.

Arthur decided he would go and see Uther now, it was best to get it over and done with and if he stayed in his office thinking about it much longer he might end up changing his mind.

Merlin wasn't at his desk when Arthur passed and he felt a twinge of guilt in his gut at lashing out at him like that. He will have to think of something to make it up to him later, for now he was going to see Uther.

Arthur approached Uther's cell and took a deep breath to steady himself before opening the little door on the bared window.

"Arthur!" Uther exclaimed marching up to the door without so much of a limp. Arthur frowned, Merlin had shot him in the leg.

Uther mistook his confusion for concern, "It was just a flesh wound, nothing I can't handle"

Uther was still dressed in his black gear he had on when he was arrested, minus the ski mask. Although Uther had been shot and spent almost two days in these cells and he still looked well-presented and put together even with the blood on his pants.

Uther still looked calm and collected just as he always had, except for his eyes. There was an odd look in them and Arthur couldn't put his finger on what it was, it was almost like panic, almost.

"You're lucky Merlin didn't aim for your head," Arthur said coldly.

"Merlin," Uther sneered, "He wouldn't dare, it's against police policy."

"And you would know all about police policy, wouldn't you?" Arthur replied sarcastically.

"I was simply cleaning up your mess Arthur"

Arthur's stomach sank. Uther had said that before, several times and each time a new victim would turn up the next day.

"You're blaming me for what you did!" Arthur shouted.

"Well if you had done your job properly then they wouldn't be on the streets in the first place."

"I don't believe this," Arthur ranted, "You took the law into your own sick hands and you're going to blame me?!"

Arthur remembered what Leon had said about Edwin being the trigger. "Why Edwin?" Arthur asked, "What was it about Edwin that ticked you off so much that you had to kill him?"

"He shot my son!" Uther shouted. "He shot my son and thought he could get away with it." Uther repeated a little calmer, "When I realised how easy it was I had to carry on, it is the only way to clean the streets up properly."

"Easy!" Arthur exclaimed in disbelief, "Taking a life should never be easy! It's what separates us from them. It's what stops us from becoming the criminals they are!"

"I disagree" Uther replied coldly.

"Clearly"

Arthur ran his hand through his hair and started pacing in front of the cell door. "What I don't understand is why you gave me a partner? 'An extra pair of eyes and hands' you said. It was that extra pair of eyes and hands that helped catch you."

Uther rolled his eyes, losing his composure for a moment, "It was the extra pair of eyes and hands that was supposed to distract you Arthur. At least I was certain they would he is your type after all."

Arthur froze. No. his father couldn't know that, there is no way that Uther knew he liked men too, he had been so careful to make sure Uther would never know. But the look in Uther's eyes confirmed it.

"You know!"

"Of course I know Arthur I know everything about you."

"Well you were clearly wrong about Merlin, weren't you?"

"No I don't think I was. I just hadn't anticipated a deeper bond past mere attraction."

Arthur scoffed, why does everyone seem to think he likes Merlin? Merlin! Of all people. Arthur's memory flashed to this morning when Merlin groaned over his coffee and the fact that it set goose pimples off racing over his body only to settle in groin. No! That was a bodily reaction and it was perfectly normal, it didn't mean anything!

What Uther thinks doesn't matter anymore, Arthur thought, Uther was going to spend the rest of his life behinds bars why should it matter what he thinks about it? Uther has no right to an opinion on Arthur's life anymore.

Arthur faced Uther and prepared himself to ask the one question he wanted to ask most. "Why? Why did you destroy mother's work?"

"I didn't destroy it," Uther seethed, then tilted his chin up, "I improved it."

Arthur looked at Uther in horror, Leon was right. Uther was deranged, he had completely lost his mind.

* * *

As soon as Arthur and Leon had entered Arthur's office, Merlin left for Gwaine's office. Using the excuse of wanting to use a faster computer. He didn't want to be sat there when they came out.

Merlin knew that Arthur's anger wasn't directed at him but it still stung, a lot. Arthur's words '_I'm still stuck with you'_ rang loudly in his head. Did that mean he had tried to get rid of him? Or was it something said in the heat of the moment? He thought they had moved past all that, now Merlin wasn't sure anymore.

Gwaine saw through him straight away but then Arthur hadn't actually been discrete when he shouted, everyone saw and heard.

"Princess giving you a hard time?"

"He's a prat." Merlin snapped. And sat himself in front of the computer determined to focus on his many reports he needed to do. He would let Arthur sulk on his own for a bit and check on him later.

It was a couple of hours later when they were interrupted by Cedric. "D.S Merlin Sir."

"Yes," Merlin replied not bothering to correct Cedric on the proper way to address him. Merlin felt that Arthur was a little too hard on Cedric at times even though he did sort of have a point. Cedric was not the best office and was easily prone to mistakes, but Merlin was certain it was just nerves and Arthur's treatment didn't make him any less nervous.

"Er Chief Superintendent Uther Pendragon has asked for a word with you."

Merlin frowned, why would Uther want to speak to him? Merlin has never once spoken to Uther so why now? "Okay I will be right there," Merlin said logging off the computer while Cedric waited.

"Why does Uther want to speak to you?" Gwaine asked, voicing Merlin's thoughts.

"I don't know, I guess I'm about to find out."

"Maybe he wants you to put in a good word with Arthur for him." Gwaine suggested.

It was a good possibility Merlin thought, they were partners after all, even if Arthur didn't like it. "He will be in for a surprise if he does because I won't do it. He may just want to know how Arthur is."

"Unlikely" Gwaine answered, "But possible"

"I will let you know when I find out." Merlin smiled, "Catch you later. Come on Cedric,"

"Yes Sir," Cedric smiled back nervously.

Merlin made his way down to the cells with Cedric trying not to let his own nerves show. He hadn't spoken to Uther before. But plenty people have spoken about him and none of the reports were good and if Arthur's own attitude of his father was anything to go by then this conversation was not going to be pleasant.

"If you have called me here to ask me to talk to Arthur on your behalf then I'm afraid you have wasted your time." Merlin said getting straight to the point once he was in front of the cells, he didn't want to give Uther the chance to try and manipulate him.

Uther smirked and shook his head, "No I don't expect you to talk to my son, but I am in need of your assistance."

"I am not going to do anything to help you."

"You don't need to _do_ anything." Uther said before turning to Cedric, "Sigan?"

Merlin frowned who on earth was Sigan? He didn't know anyone by that name. That name, however did have an effect on Cedric. The look of fear and nervousness melted off Cedric's face only to be replaced with a cold sneer. Cedric straightened his back making Merlin realise he was taller than he first appeared, he then threw his shoulders back giving him a much firmer and more solid posture. Cedric looked like a different person.

"Cedric?" Merlin asked. Cedric slowly shook his head from side to side keeping his sneer in place. There was a nasty glint in Cedric's eyes that Merlin didn't like at all.

The next thing Merlin knew was pain. Pain blooming at the side of his head and then again in his shoulder when he hit the deck. Everything became blurry and sounds became muffled as if under water. He could hear Uther shouting in the distance. Merlin rolled on to his back as Uther's words became clearer, "Again! Again!" Merlin's eyes focused just in time to see Cedric standing over him with the butt of his gun raised before it came slamming down on to his head again sending Merlin into darkness.


	7. A New Begining

**Sorry about the delay on this chapter, not only has it been difficult to write but my son has also been ill who I clearly taught to share a little too well lol.**

**Also sorry about the lame chapter title, my mind drew a complete blank on this and I couldn't think of anything better.**

**This story is now complete.**

**I do have an idea for a sequel but it may be some time yet as it's only an idea at the moment. I need to think about it and develop proper plot lines with a sub plot or two and maybe a couple of twists along the way. But there will be a sequel.**

* * *

**CHAPTER 7**

**A NEW BEGINNING**

Merlin still wasn't at his desk when Arthur returned, leaving his father alone and shouting in the cells. He tried to ignore the twinge of guilt he felt, he truly hadn't meant to lash out at Merlin. Merlin was his friend, his best friend really. The more Arthur thought about it the more he was surprised at how Merlin had worked himself so deeply under his skin in such a short space of time.

Merlin still wasn't back when Arthur returned from lunch. Arthur placed the coffee he had got for Merlin on his desk, knowing it wasn't enough but hoped it would be a start. He left his office door open so that he could see when Merlin returned.

Arthur had barely sat down before the alarms for the cells rang out throughout the building. Arthur's heart sank, he just knew this had something to do with Uther. He should have known that Uther was going to put up a fight.

He raced down to the cells along with several other officers and pushed his way through the crowd that had already formed around Uther's cell, only to find it empty with the door wide open. There was a small amount of blood that was smudged and smeared on the floor near Uther's cell. And yet everyone just stood there staring and gawping.

"What are you doing just standing around for?" Arthur shouted. "I want the entire building searched floor by floor, top to bottom, he couldn't have gone far. Someone get a copy of the CCTV and someone take a sample of this blood over to Lance's lab ASAP, have him run it against the police personnel files first."

"Do you think the blood belongs to one of our own Sir?" A young trainee asked from the back while Gwaine and Percy also pushed their way through to the front.

"We are in a police station it is hardly going to be a civilian now is it?" Everyone leapt into action. Most of them left the cells to organise the search while others started searching the cell itself.

"Where is Merlin?" Arthur asked approaching Gwaine who was staring at the blood stain. "He is the lead officer on this now, he should be here. I can't believe he would let his sulk interfere wi-"

"Arthur!" Gwaine shouted cutting Arthur's rant off.

"What?"

"Uther asked to see Merlin about half an hour ago, he didn't come back."

Ice gripped Arthur's stomach. "But that would mean…" Arthur said looking down to the blood. Merlin's blood. The ice in Arthur's stomach spread up to his lungs and heart, down his spine making him feel numb for the second time this week.

Arthur glanced to the officer that was knelt down beside the puddle with a vile and swab in his hand. And pushed him out of the way to snatch the equipment from him and quickly scraped up some of the blood, he was up and marching out of the cells before he got the vile sealed.

"Arthur where are you going?" Gwaine called, running after him.

"Lance's lab," Arthur replied, increasing speed. "I need to know now! If this is Merlin's blood."

"Well wait for us, you are not doing this alone Arthur."

"Then keep up!" Arthur snapped.

Arthur threw the door open when he arrived at the lab, "Lance!" Striding over to a startled Lance at the desk, "I need you to run this blood sample against Merlin's file and see if it's a match." Arthur said, shoving the vile into Lance's hands.

"Arthur? What?"

"Now Lance! Merlin may be in trouble I need to know if this is his blood." Arthur released a deep breath when Lance rushed around his lab, fiddling with his equipment.

"Percival, head over to tech, get them to start digging up the CCTV footage, we will be there as soon as we are done here." Arthur ordered. Percy nodded and left after a moment's hesitation.

With nothing left to do Arthur paced the floor while he waited. He didn't want to think, he didn't want to think about Merlin being injured and bleeding somewhere, he didn't want think that his father would hurt Merlin.

But he couldn't help it. The thought of Merlin hurt somewhere actually made his chest constrict painfully as if someone was squeezing the air out of him. The thought of Merlin bleeding and helpless made him want to demolish everything in his way and raze everything to the ground until Merlin was safe.

Gwaine appeared in front of him gripping his shoulders with both hands, "Arthur, calm down."

"Don't tell me t-"

"Look," Gwaine said firmly, "I know you are worried about Merlin, we all are. But you need to calm down and think this through. If you lose your head now you will be no good to anyone, especially Merlin."

Arthur nodded, as much as he hated to admit it Gwaine was right. He was not going to find Merlin if he panicked. "Okay, thinking it through," Arthur agreed. "How did Uther get out of the cell? I find it very hard to believe that Merlin would open the door for him."

"Somebody did, the keys were still in the door."

Damn he missed that. The fact that he missed it was proof that he needed to take a step back and think about it logically. "Merlin may have opened the door if he thought Uther was hurt or sick and needed help."

Gwaine frowned and shook his head, "No, he would have called for a medic and back up first, alerting us all."

That was true. It was surprising how many prisoners tried that trick to try and escape, standard procedure was to call for a medic and backup first. "So if Merlin didn't open the door, then who did?"

"Uther must have had help," Gwaine answered. "It was Cedric who came to get Merlin."

"Cedric?!" Arthur laughed, "The man can barely string along a sentence never mind help Uther escape."

"Yes but it wouldn't take much to trick Cedric into opening the door for him."

"Not if Merlin was with him, Merlin would have stopped him." Arthur ran his hand through his hair and started pacing again, "We need the CCTV, we need to go over to the tech department. Has Cedric been seen since?"

"No, he didn't come back either." Gwaine answered.

"Then it might be Cedric's blood." Arthur said hopefully but then felt a little guilty about wishing someone else was hurt. He didn't want it to be anyone's blood, but it had to belong to someone.

"Or Uther's! In fact if anything it's more likely to be his, he was injured after all." Gwaine suggested.

"Sorry guys," Lance interrupted, "But it's Merlin's blood alright, it's a 99.9% match."

"Well that blows that theory out of the water." Gwaine huffed.

"Come on, let's get over to tech see if there is anything on the CCTV," Arthur said, already heading for the door.

"Arthur wait a moment," Gwaine said once they were outside.

"We don't have time for chatting Gwaine."

"I know, but I want you to stop and think for a moment," Gwaine replied blocking Arthur's path, "This could get messy, Uther has taken Merlin, but are you prepared to do what it takes to get Merlin back?"

"Of course I would, how could you ask that?"

"Even if it means shooting your own father?"

That made Arthur pause. Could he kill his own father? As much as he hated Uther for what he had done, he didn't think he could kill him. Uther had never been much of a father but he was still his father, he still raised him taught him everything he knew. But what if it came down to killing Uther or letting Merlin die? The idea of killing his father made Arthur feel ill and queasy but the idea of letting Merlin die made him feel cold and numb like his blood had frozen in his veins.

"I would much rather not have to shoot anyone. But if it came down to Merlin or Uther I know what I would do." Gwaine raised his eyebrows, "Uther made his choice when he started this whole mess, I no longer see him as my father." The image of his mother's tapestries appeared in his mind. The man he knew as his father would never have done that. He remembered Nimueh hanging from the tree as his father slit her throat, the man he knew as his father no longer existed. "Uther is not an innocent. Merlin on the other hand…" The thought of Merlin being dead sent a shiver through Arthur. His mind rejected the idea fiercely. A world without Merlin would be a very dark and cold place, a place Arthur did not want to be.

Gwaine grinned, "Yeah, Merlin what?"

"Merlin is an innocent." Arthur insisted, trying valiantly to keep his blush at bay, he didn't want Gwaine miss-reading the situation, even though he was starting to think there was a small chance they were right.

"Aww come on princess," Gwaine pouted, "We both know that Merlin is much more than that."

"Shut up Gwaine." Arthur said lightly shoving Gwaine to the side, "Come on we got work to do."

They found Percy towering over George who was in front of his computers looking very nervous at Percy's presence.

"Well?"

"Nothing," Percy answered. "It appears the CCTV was taken out just before Cedric came for Merlin. Including the cameras outside and in the carpark."

"The backups?" Arthur asked already knowing the answer.

"They are down too, whoever it was knew what they were doing."

"There is a bank across the road," George piped up throwing a glance at Percy, "There is a good chance that their CCTV will have caught something from outside of the building"

"They may have caught Uther leaving the station with Merlin," Percy said.

Gwaine shook his head, "We can't just walk into the bank and ask for their CCTV footage. We will have to put in request forms and that will take time."

"Time that Merlin might not have," Arthur agreed, "This just leaves us with Cedric, we need to find him."

"I can get his address from the personnel files." George offered.

"Do it. We will go and search his place and at least try and find out if he is friend or foe."

* * *

The first thing Merlin became aware of was his head, his head was pounding. Merlin didn't think he had ever had a hangover as bad as this before, which confused him. He didn't remember drinking, he didn't even remember going to the pub.

The next thing Merlin became aware of was the cold. The cold was seeping into his body from the hard flat surface he was lying on. The floor? Why was he lying on the floor? The memories of Uther and Cedric came flooding back to him.

He groaned and shifted slightly taking stock of his body and determining any other injuries, he stopped when it sent a fresh wave of pain through his head and nausea rolled around in his stomach.

He noted thankfully that there wasn't any pain other than that in his head, although he also noted that his left hand was slightly elevated. He tried jerking it back only to find he couldn't move it.

He slowly opened his eyes to take in his surroundings before dealing with arm. He wasn't particularly worried he knew it was a restraint, the fact that he had been restrained in the first place was the worrying part.

It took a few moments for the room he was in to stop swaying and for the blurring to recede so he could focus in on the area. The room he was in was small and dark, but not so much that he couldn't make things out. The room was practically empty, it was dusty and the air was musty and stale. The cold concrete floor had a thick layer of dirt in which he was lying.

He immediately thought of Nimueh's warehouse but his gut told him that this was not it. The place felt much too small for that. He discretely tried to look around not wanting to draw attention to himself. He realised that if someone was watching him it was already too late. He had already made enough noise to let his captor know he was awake.

Merlin had no idea how long he had been unconscious, an hour? Two? More? There was no natural light in the room so it was very difficult to tell.

There was an old simple wooden table and chair on the other side of the room. Uther was sat on the chair staring directly at him, with a gun held loosely in his hand. Yes his captor definitely knew he was awake.

He braced himself and gathered up all of his strength to sit up. He didn't want to talk to Uther while he was on his back. It took some doing but he eventually managed to get himself upright. He leant back panting in pain with his eyes screwed shut against what he now realised was a radiator, with his left wrist cuffed to the pipes.

Once the stabbing pain in his head had reduced back down to a throb he tried talking. Merlin opened his mouth to speak but all that came out was a garbled croak. He cleared his throat to try again, wincing at the renewed throb it sent through his head. "Where am I?" he eventually managed to croak out.

"Not important." Uther answered stiffly.

"Why have you brought me here?" Merlin tried again.

"You are here because I wish it. You are my insurance."

"Insurance?"

"Yes, if Arthur manages to find us before my contacts arrive then I will use you against him, plus I got to admit," Uther paused to lean forward in his chair and smirk at Merlin, "There is some pleasure to be had in hurting you. As Arthur pointed out he would not have caught me if it weren't for you."

Oddly enough Merlin wasn't too worried about it, maybe his head had him too dazed to think about. He wasn't afraid of pain anyway, he didn't enjoy it or get off on it but wasn't scared of pain, and Uther had just admitted he needed him alive so he didn't feel he had cause to be to be too worried. Yet.

"I didn't do it all by myself you know? Arthur helped a great deal besides you were killing people you needed to be caught."

"I was doing what my son failed to do and got the scum off the streets."

"By killing them? That's not justice!" Merlin shouted ignoring the pain it caused in his head.

"It was the only way," Uther replied calmly, leaning back into his chair.

"And it was hardly Arthur's fault, he did everything he was supposed to, he did everything right."

"Of course you would defend him," Uther snorted, "But you can't deny the streets are safer now I have cleaned them up a bit."

"Oh yeah I feel real safe right now, what happens to me if your contacts gets here first?"

"Nothing, I will leave you here, they will find you eventually."

"And your contacts will allow that will they?" Merlin snorted, unable to believe that it would be that simple.

"Of course" Uther smiled. Merlin wondered if the smile was supposed to make him relax. But it looked wrong and foreign on his face making it very difficult for Merlin to believe him.

Merlin glanced around the room looking for signs of anyone else. He expected to find Cedric in the corner somewhere, but he couldn't see him anywhere, but then it was dark Cedric could easily be hiding or maybe in another room.

"Where is Cedric….or is it Sigan…? What the hell was that all about anyway?"

"Yes," Uther replied cheerfully, "Cedric's alter ego has been extremely helpful. I caught Cedric covering and hiding evidence for his friend who was running a dog fighting ring, when I came across his alter ego, or Sigan as he is called. His friend was a vet, and not a good one, it gave him easy access to his dogs and drugs so he bought my silence in exchange for the tranquilisers."

"Great so we can add conspiracy to conceal a crime and blackmail to your rap sheet."

Uther shrugged calmly like it wasn't important, "They were only animals."

"They were only…there are laws against animal cruelty." Merlin shouted, shocked at what he was hearing, "Oh I get it, you pick and choose which laws you want to follow. Not to mention you took advantage of a sick man who clearly has a split personality disorder, is there no low you will stoop too?"

Uther leapt of his chair "I will do what it takes to get the job done." He yelled, losing his calm composure and sneering grotesquely at Merlin.

"Jesus you're off your fucking rocker." Merlin gasped at the sudden transformation.

Uther backhanded him hard and fast, sending him back down on to the floor. It felt like a gong had gone off inside his head and he was pretty sure his body was vibrating from it. He squeezed his eyes shut against the onslaught desperately trying to keep hold of the contents of his stomach. He could feel something wet trickling down his face. Merlin gingerly put his hand to it and was unsurprised to see his hand covered in blood.

Once he was certain he wasn't going to be sick he blinked his eyes open until the black spots faded from his vision. Then gently lifted himself back into a sitting position against the radiator once more.

"What about Arthur?" He croaked out after a few minutes of regaining his breath.

"What about him?" Uther snarled, "He's a disappointment, after everything I have done for him and he is unwilling to even _try_ to understand what I have been doing, after all the times I have had to clean up his mess every time he fucked up, and _he_ dares to look at _me_ with disgust."

"A disappointment!" Merlin growled back. There is no way that Arthur could be considered a disappointment to anyone, let alone his own father. "Arthur has had to work twice as hard as everyone else just to earn the respect he deserves. _Everything_ he does has been under the spotlight because he was your son and he has still managed to accomplish more than most people in half the time. You should be proud of him! But then again," Merlin huffed, "I can't say I'm surprised with your attitude, you were hardly winning any father of year contests before your cheese slid of its cracker."

Merlin's face hit the floor for the third time, only this time he wasn't able to stop the darkness from taking over. He barely had time to register that Uther had hit again before he lost consciousness.

* * *

Arthur, Gwaine and Percy pulled up outside the address they had for Cedric. Which turned out to be a very old run down house. It was clearly a house that been in Cedric's family for some time and was showing its age, badly. The house needed a lot of work, a hell of a lot of work but could actually be a very nice family house with a bit of care and attention.

"Arthur look." Percy said, pointing to the open garage. Inside sat a red Ford Fiesta.

"How the hell did we not know about that?"

"Well we wouldn't would we? Not if he hasn't driven it to work. It's not as if we check the cars every officer drives."

"Well maybe we should start." Arthur snapped.

"It wouldn't have meant anything anyway if we had known about it, it's a very common car."

Arthur ignored him, he wasn't in the mood for a debate with Gwaine they had a suspect to apprehend and question. Arthur drew out his gun and checked the safety, "Right, Percy you go around back, Gwaine you're with me."

Percy quickly disappeared around the side of the house. Arthur and Gwaine waited for a moment or two to give him the chance to get into position, before approaching and banging on Cedric's door.

"Lieutenant Cedric Brown. This is the police. Open the door and put your hands on your head!" Arthur shouted.

Nothing happened for a few minutes and Arthur was beginning to think Cedric had made a run for it out the back. But the door eventually creaked open and a very dazed and confused looking Cedric peered out.

"Hands on your head," Arthur ordered, making a show of his gun, warning Cedric that they meant business.

"Sir?...W..what?...I d..don't-"

"Hands. On. Your. Head. I won't ask again."

Cedric slowly moved his hands to his head, "Gwaine." Arthur said, ordering him to move in. Gwaine stepped forward and spun Cedric around then grabbing each of Cedric's hands, he moved them and cuffed them behind his back.

"Is there anyone else in the house?" Gwaine asked.

Cedric shook his head, or least Arthur thinks he did. Cedric was shaking so badly it was hard to tell.

"Speak clearly." Arthur demanded.

"N..n..no Sir!"

Percy appeared from inside the house, "Downstairs is clear Sir."

"Secure him inside, we don't have time to take him to the station, I want answers now. Percy check the upstairs, I don't trust this weasel."

Percy moved to check the upstairs while Arthur and Gwaine took each of Cedric's arms to drag him inside. They moved straight down the hallway and into the shabby dirty kitchen at the back of the house. It seemed Cedric had finally learned some sense and kept quiet.

"Sit him at the table and I want a gun trained on him at all times." Arthur ordered.

Gwaine sat Cedric down and took a step back keeping his gun on him. "Right then," Arthur said sitting opposite Cedric. "Where is Merlin?"

"W..what? I d..don't know Sir."

"You see Cedric, I don't believe you, and I think you know a hell of a lot more than you are letting on."

"B..but."

"Where is Merlin?" Arthur repeated.

"I don't know!" Cedric squeaked, his voice rising in pitch.

Arthur sat back in his chair and took a closer look at Cedric. The man looked positively petrified and one step away from a full blown panic attack. Arthur needed to calm him down a little otherwise they would up taking care of him instead.

"Okay," Arthur soothed. "When was the last time you saw him?" Arthur asked.

"W..when I took him to go and see U..uther I mean Supe-" Arthur raised a hand to cut him off, he didn't care about correct address.

"Okay, then what? Did you stay with them?"

"Y..yes Sir." Cedric replied a little calmer.

"What did they talk about?"

"Uther wanted Merlin's assistance, but Merlin refused."

"Assistance with what?"

"I..I don't know Sir, he didn't say."

"Then what happened?"

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know," Arthur snapped. "Did they continue talking? Did Merlin leave? Did you leave? Did anyone open the cell door at any time?"

"I don't remember." Cedric sobbed.

"You don't remember?" Arthur repeated slowly, "Where you knocked out?"

"I d..don't know, I don't t..think so."

"Okay," Arthur sighed. "Why are you here? You are supposed to be on duty at the station, so what are you doing at home?" Arthur asked attempting a different tactic.

"I w..woke up here."

"You woke up here? Explain now!" Arthur demanded beginning to lose his patience. They didn't have time for this. Merlin is hurt and bleeding somewhere and Arthur needed to get him.

"I don't know i..if I can, the last thing I remember is Merlin and U..Uther talking in t..the cells and the next thing I know I'm waking up here."

Arthur frowned, was it possible Cedric had been drugged somehow? Arthur got up to examine Cedric's neck. Cedric violently flinched away from but Arthur grabbed his shoulder not allowing him to move. Cedric's neck was clean and free from puncture wounds.

"What about your car?" Gwaine asked from the corner.

"M..my car?"

"A red Ford Fiesta was seen at one of the crime scenes, and you happen to have a red Ford in your garage.

"It wasn't my car, I haven't driven that car in months. I walk to the station, I can't afford to run it properly so I keep it in the garage."

Arthur was about to tell Gwaine to call forensics when he realised there was someone missing. "Where is Percy? He is taking too long."

"I haven't heard him come back down." Gwaine said.

"You keep an eye on him, I will go and check on Percy." And stormed out before Gwaine could protest.

The upstairs was just as run down as the rest of the house. He found Percy in the second bedroom, glancing at the busted lock on the way in he wondered if Percy had forced his way in or if it had always been like that.

"Percival?"

"In here," Percy shouted not realising Arthur was already in the room with him. "You need to see this Arthur."

The second bedroom was quiet bare there was a bed on one side of the room that looked like it had been slept in recently and an old desk in the corner where Percy was standing holding some papers in his hand. The desk was littered in paper that spilled over on to the floor. Some had been pinned up on to the wall. Arthur came closer to inspect them hoping for a location where Merlin might be held.

It was very difficult to make sense of what was written as most of it was nonsense. Written by two very distinctive hands.

On one sheet was:_ My name is Cedric Brown, I am Cedric, I am me, leave me alone. _The same words repeated over and over again sometimes different words were used but it all meant the same thing.

Whilst on another sheet in a different hand was: _I am Sigan, I am here, I am coming for you, Cedric must die, I will NEVER go away._

"What the hell is all this? It looks like the ramblings of a mad man." Arthur said bewildered.

"It's all more or less the same on every sheet Arthur, the draws are full of them too." Percy said as Arthur shifted through more paper. "What is he saying downstairs?"

"That he doesn't remember. He claims he doesn't remember anything, he was with Merlin and Uther in cells one moment then here the next."

"Maybe he doesn't. I was watching this documentary a few months ago there was something similar to this in it, it was about people with split personality disorder."

"Split personality?"

Percy nodded, "If he has this, then he might not remember what he does when his other personality takes over. Judging by this Cedric's other personality is called Sigan. If Sigan took over then its Sigan we need to talk too. It looks like Cedric's is aware of something but he may not understand what it is"

Arthur sighed, "That sort of makes sense that will be why Uther used him too. If Cedric is mentally unstable then nothing he says can be used at evidence and can't be relied on in court." Arthur ran his hands through his hair, "How do we call this Sigan out then?"

"We could try calling him out."

"It's worth a shot. Call forensics get them over here we could probably do with a couple of psychiatrists here too."

"Will do Arthur" Percival agreed.

Arthur made his way back down the stairs with several of the papers in his hand. Cedric was clearly still panicking and incredibly nervous, his eyes shooting from Gwaine, Gwaine's gun and Arthur as if he was waiting for one them to attack him. His eyes stilled when he saw the papers in Arthur's hand.

"W..what are t..those?"

Arthur didn't answer straight away he settled himself back in his seat and Percy appeared a moment later.

"I was rather hoping you could tell me." Arthur replied calmly.

"I d..don't know"

"Really." Arthur said and slid the papers over the table so that Cedric could see them. Cedric's face drained of colour and he started to shake again.

"I don't k..know." Cedric repeated.

"Hmmmm…Maybe I should ask Sigan then."

The reaction was instant. Cedric froze, his body stopped shaking and the panic and nerves was replaced with malevolence and eyes filled with pure venom. The corner of his lips curled up into a nasty sneer.

"Sigan?"

"Arthur Pendragon," Cedric or rather Sigan nodded.

"Good, maybe you can tell me where Merlin is?"

"I could," Sigan replied in a cold hard voice that sounded nothing like Cedric and raised the hairs on the back of Arthur's neck. "But I won't."

"What did you do to him?" Arthur snapped.

"He is alive, if that is what you are asking, at least he was last time I checked."

"Where is Uther?"

"Not tellin," Sigan sing songed, "I don't have to tell you anything."

"It would be in your best interest to co-operate." Arthur said firmly gritting his teeth.

"Oh really and why is that?" Sigan said lightly, "I think we both know where I am going, and it's not to jail." Sigan laughed, "I bet you have already called the shrinks."

Percival moved in closer, towering over Sigan with his bulk. Sigan rolled his eyes, "Oh please, don't think you can intimidate me. Cedric is the snivelling coward not me and I know you won't hurt an unarmed man," Sigan pointed to himself with a look of mock innocence, "An unarmed _sick_ man."

"And how would you know? We will do whatever it takes to protect one of our own." Arthur growled.

"Do you really think that I would let Cedric," Sigan spat the name, "Walk around all this time? No," Sigan shook his head slowly, "I have seen you, I have watched you. I will take my chances."

"Where. Is. Merlin?" Arthur asked again.

Sigan shrugged and stared at Arthur with his cold eyes as if he was trying to penetrate into Arthur's brain. Arthur stared right back, not willing to back down. Sigan leant over the table to come closer to Arthur. Both Gwaine and Percy shifted on the spot ready to jump in at a moment's notice. "I'm not telling you anything Arthur Pendragon." Sigan said, his voice filled with ice.

"I don't get it." Gwaine said breaking some of the tension in the room. "Why did you even become a police officer in the first place?"

"Because that pathetic excuse for a man, otherwise known as Cedric thought he could hack it." Sigan replied not taking his eyes off Arthur, "Just because dear old mummy could. But he couldn't, it was too much for him, he doesn't have the balls, that's why I woke up in the first place and I quickly took over. Cedric is weak it wasn't even hard." Sigan laughed.

Arthur slammed his hand down onto the table, "Tell me where Merlin is!" he demanded. But Sigan just sat back in his chair and curled his lips into his mouth squeezing it shut. "God damn it." Arthur snapped before leaping out of his chair and marching out of the room. He could hear Sigan's cold laugh follow him down the hallway, but if he spent another moment with Sigan he was pretty sure he would have hit him until he gave them something.

Arthur was pacing in the front room, wearing down the already thread bare carpet, when Gwaine came in. "What is wrong with the people in this city?" Arthur ranted. "First Uther now Cedric has everyone gone bonkers?"

"Must be something in the water." Gwaine answered gently. "Alright Arthur," Gwaine said coming over to Arthur and pushed him down on to a nearby couch. Small clouds of dust escaped when Arthur made contact with the fabric sending them both into a coughing fit.

Arthur got back up, "Think I will stand," Arthur choked.

"Probably best," Gwaine choked back, "Okay princess." Gwaine started again, "We need to focus on Uther not Sigric in there." Arthur rolled his eyes at Gwaine's attempt at a joke. He was not in the mood for joking he just wanted to find Merlin.

"Arthur where would your father-"

"Don't call him that," Arthur snapped. That man is no longer his father, he is not the man he knew, and he has already made that clear.

"Sorry where would Uther go?" Gwaine corrected, "Have you any idea at all?"

"No, if I did I would be there by now." Arthur snapped.

"Untwist your knickers princess, I'm trying to help."

"Sorry,"

"Sorry? Did you just say sorry?" Gwaine asked stunned, "I don't think I have ever heard you say that before. Wow Merlin has been a better influence on you than I thought."

"Gwaine!" Arthur growled.

"Sorry, sorry, didn't mean to rub it in." Gwaine replied sheepishly before taking a deep breath and started again. "Does Uther have any other buildings or properties?"

Arthur shook his head, "No, none that I know of anyway, other than his apartment."

"What about the house you grew up in?"

"No. He sold that, I know he did there are other people living in it now. He wouldn't go back there."

"What about your mother? Was there anything in her name?" Gwaine asked gently.

"No all she had was the art gallery. And Uther sold that off after she died."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes I'm sure. He sold off the business, I inherited most of it when I came of age."

"But what about the building?"

Arthur frowned, he couldn't remember what happened to the building itself. "Don't the two usually go hand in hand?"

"Not always no."

"Fuck."

* * *

Arthur looked at the building that was his mothers. The windows had been blacked out and covered with a fine layer of dirt and grime. It clearly hadn't been used since his mother had it.

Arthur wanted to come and storm the place straight away but Gwaine and Percy persuaded him to wait for back up. They had no way of knowing how many were involved and with Merlin being injured, they might need a medic depending on how bad he was. And they knew Uther was armed with Cedric's gun.

It was nearly dark outside now and was virtually pitch black inside. The occasional flash of a torch could be seen inside, so they knew someone was in there they just didn't know how many, or if Merlin was in there. Uther had managed to get Cedric on his side, who knows how many others there could be.

Once they were all geared up with their guns and bullet proof vests, Arthur and his men quietly and quickly surrounded the building, no one could get in or out without them knowing about it. The blacked out windows working to their advantage.

Arthur slipped the microscopic microphone under the door, they needed to determine how many were in the building before they could enter.

There was the sound of someone moving around almost like they were pacing. This went on for some time, Arthur was about to give up on hearing anything else when Merlin's voice rang loud and clear through Arthur's earpiece. "Are you sure your contacts are coming? Only my arse has gone numb."

Arthur felt a weight being lifted from his shoulders at the sound of Merlin's voice. Merlin was well enough to speak and make jokes, but he didn't relax completely, he knew that Merlin could still be severely injured.

If Merlin got a response it wasn't verbal, not that that could stop Merlin from talking however. "I mean these contacts of yours, I'm guessing they are not law abiding citizens. If they are crooks they are hardly going to be honourable and trustworthy are they? There is a very good chance they are not coming. You were the Chief Superintendent after all many of them probably hold a grudge against you, so if they did come I think it's more likely that they would shoot you first."

There was the sound of hurried steps followed by an 'Umph' and a slight choking sound. "If you don't hold your tongue I will cut it out." Arthur heard Uther snarl.

Arthur felt panic grip him at the sound of Merlin being hurt further and yanked his microphone back and hurried back to Gwaine and Percival on the other side of the street but still within full view of the building. "Both Uther and Merlin are in there. It sounds like they are alone, it seems Uther is waiting for someone. Uther is hurting Merlin so we have to act fast."

"Okay princess how do you want to do this?"

"We have to be very careful," Percy added, "Uther won't hesitate to kill Merlin like he did Nimueh."

"I was thinking hard and fast, we have the element of surp-"

He cut himself off when he noticed a dark coloured car approach from down the street with no lights on. The car slowed down to a stop outside the building. Arthur signalled everyone to get down and out of sight.

Arthur ducked down behind a parked car and peered through the car windows. A man Arthur was sure he had never seen before stepped out of the car keeping the car door open and the engine running. The man glanced around, but as he started for the building, he caught sight of Arthur watching him. The man threw himself back into the car and sped off with the tyres screeching down the street.

Over at the shop a small part of the paper covering the window was ripped off, just small enough for Uther to look out and catch it all.

"Well there goes our element of surprise," Gwaine said.

"Please tell me someone got a good look at the plates on that car?" Arthur asked.

Percy nodded and was already on the radio. Arthur huffed, he was hoping to avoid a direct confrontation with Uther, but now he couldn't see any other way.

"I will go in as bait."

"What!? Arthur no!" Gwaine protested.

"I am fairly confident I can hold his attention, while you two go around back and sneak up from behind."

"And if he decides to shoot you?"

"He may well blame me for everything but I don't believe he will shoot me. I can have a couple of men right behind to react if he does try anything."

"I don't like it."

"I'm not all that keen on it myself," Arthur admitted. Arthur really didn't want to speak to Uther at all or ever again if he can help it. But he would do it for Merlin, Arthur was starting to realise he would do just about anything to keep Merlin safe. "Do you have any other suggestions?"

"You said yourself that he blames you for everything, what makes you think he won't shoot you?" Gwaine persisted.

"He won't hesitate to kill Merlin but he will with me, that hesitation will give us a window of opportunity."

"The car is a no go." Percy interrupted, "It was reported stolen a couple of hours ago."

"Okay," Arthur nodded, "Let's get this show on the road."

Gwaine and Percy went around the back with a couple of officers while Arthur approached the main door of the building, with two men close behind him but not so close that Uther would see them.

He banged on the door, seeing no point in stealth as Uther already knew they were there. The door remained shut and Arthur tried the handle only to find it locked which would have made a surprise attack even more unlikely.

Arthur and the two officers proceeded to kick the door down, the frame soon splintered allowing them to push the door open. Arthur double checked his gun and torch and slowly moved further into the main room with the other two officers hanging back just enough to keep out of sight.

Arthur quickly scanned the room with his torch finding it mostly empty before locking onto Uther and Merlin standing in the middle of the room. Merlin winced when the bright light hit him in the face. His face was much paler than usual and the left side was covered in blood that had dripped down and stained the collar of his shirt.

Arthur had a strange sense of déjà vu at seeing Uther dressed in the same clothing and with a life in his hands as he did the night he killed Nimueh only this time it was Merlin he was holding hostage.

Uther was standing behind Merlin with an arm wrapped around his neck and was pointing a gun at Merlin's head with his other hand. A pair of cuffs were hanging from Merlin's left wrist as he tried to grab at Uther's arm in an attempt to steady himself.

It actually looked like Uther was supporting most of Merlin's weight as Merlin's legs were shaking rather badly. Which must have put an uncomfortable pressure onto his neck, but it also made sure that Merlin couldn't get his own feet under him properly.

"I'm surprised at you Arthur, I expected you to come alone." Uther said, "Ask your men to come in where I can see them." The two men behind him slowly moved to Arthur's side with both of their guns drawn. "Gwaine and Percival I assume." Uther stated.

"I wasn't going to take any chances in letting you escape." Arthur said quickly allowing Uther to make the assumption that it was Gwaine and Percy beside him. It was too dark for Uther to see them properly especially with Arthur's torch glaring in his face. He didn't want Uther to wonder where Gwaine and Percy might actually be, they needed to keep the element of surprise. Thankfully the two men beside him kept quiet.

"Put down your guns."

"You know I can't do that." Arthur said firmly.

"I will kill him if I have too, don't think that I won't." Uther said as he pushed the gun into Merlin's bloody temple. Merlin bit his lip against the pain it caused.

"You don't want to hurt Merlin."

"And why not?"

"Because that would end very badly for you. You can't win this, you are surrounded and you have nowhere to go. Your accomplice has fled and left you behind."

"I would rather die than go to prison," Uther snapped.

"Keep going and you will get your wish."

Uther laughed deep in his chest, and shifted Merlin slightly in his grip. "You won't hurt me, I'm your father."

"Nope." Arthur said simply surprising himself at how strong his own voice sounded. "You are not the man I knew as my father, my father is dead to me."

"How dare you!" Uther shouted, "After everyth-"

"Everything you have done for me, yes yes I know, you sound like a broken record." Arthur goaded. He wanted Uther to lose his temper and turn the gun on to him, it would give him the chance he needed to take down Uther, preferably alive. "It's always the same thing with you. But everything you have done is for yourself, you just can't admit it and blame me instead. And you know what? If that's what you prefer to think then go right ahead, I don't care anymore."

Uther's face turned red with rage and shifted Merlin again pressing the gun further into his wounds on his temple causing him to whimper slightly.

Uther's face suddenly relaxed, "Don't think I don't know what you are doing, it won't work."

"You have nothing to gain by killing Merlin."

"Oh don't I? I know that it would hurt you. I know that you have feelings for him even if you admit it or not."

"You won't kill an innocent man just to hurt me?" Arthur said ignored the last part of Uther's statement.

"You said yourself I am no longer a father to you, and nobody is ever truly innocent."

"Cracker." Merlin managed to choke out. It meant nothing to Arthur but it clearly meant something to Uther whose face turned red once more and tapped the gun against Merlin's temple harshly.

"Don't push me boy." Uther growled, and shifted Merlin again. And that's when Arthur saw it. Uther was supporting all of Merlin's weight and he couldn't take it. He was struggling to hold Merlin up with one arm. Merlin might have a slim build but he was still a full grown man. This had to end sooner rather than later.

Arthur noticed movement in the back of the room and knew he had to keep Uther's attention on him. "I am not the one who has disgraced the Pendragon name, you are. Mother would be ashamed if she saw what you turned out to be." Arthur said knowing it would push Uther over the edge.

"DON'T' YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR MOTHER!" Uther roared, face twisting up in anger as he snapped the gun to Arthur's direction.

Two loud pops echoed throughout the room and Merlin, Uther, Arthur dropped to the floor.

* * *

Merlin's face hit the deck yet again and a weight fell on top of him. Merlin just lay there gasping for breath. He didn't think that his head could take much more of hitting the floor, it felt like it was about to explode. He didn't have any energy to even try and pick himself up this time or even attempt to remove the weight from on top of him.

He didn't lay there long before the weight was lifted from him. He quickly realised the weight was Uther who was now groaning as his arms were being cuffed behind his back. Merlin closed his eyes with the relief that it was all finally over.

"Merlin?!"

Merlin groaned as he was rolled over on to his back, the movement jarring in his head.

"Merlin?" Arthur's voice came again. "Answer me please."

"M'kay" Merlin grumbled, feeling hands patting him all over his chest and arms and moved down his legs. "Stop that."

"I have to check you over Merlin and make sure you have no other injuries."

Merlin reached out blindly until he caught Arthur's hand and drew his attention. "I'm fine, just my head that's all." Arthur released a deep breath and practically collapsed next to him relief clear on his face.

Before Merlin could even contemplate Arthur's behaviour, Arthur's lips came crashing down on him. The kiss was hard and desperate and Merlin's lips were helpless against the onslaught. Arthur pulled away far too soon for Merlin's liking and looked directly into Merlin's eyes. "Don't do that to me again." Arthur said hoarsely. Merlin nodded weakly not taking his eyes off Arthur. Did that just happen?

Somewhere in the room someone clearly their throat loudly, "Do you mind if I tend to my patient?" A paramedic asked. Merlin glanced around the room to see it filled with people, paramedics were hovering over Uther, Merlin and someone else not far from him.

Arthur was already moving around them all gathering information while the paramedics were tending to him, not that he noticed what they were really doing. His mind was desperately trying to keep up with events. He wasn't sure if it was his head wound or Arthur's kiss that had dazed him.

Arthur spoke the all of the paramedics before coming back to him. "They are going to take you into hospital Merlin to check you over properly, they will most likely keep you in overnight as you have had some bad knocks to the head."

"Uther?" Merlin asked. Arthur glanced over to where Uther was being seen too.

"Alive, he took a hit to the shoulder." Merlin turned his head to the other person who was being seen too, the man, Merlin couldn't tell who it was, was sitting up now. Arthur answered the question before Merlin could ask. "That's Owain, he pushed me out of the way and took Uther's bullet in the arm, but he will be fine. Just worry about yourself Merlin. They are going to take you in now, I will catch up with you in a bit."

Merlin nodded he hadn't even noticed the paramedics laying a stretcher out beside. He squeezed his eyes shut and gritting his teeth against the movement he knew was about to follow. Luckily he didn't get to experience a lot of as he soon passed out.

When Merlin woke it was to the sound of slow and steady beeping. Merlin scanned the hospital room he was in and found Arthur watching him from a chair beside his bed.

"Arthur?" Merlin rasped.

"How are you feeling?" Arthur asked leaning closer.

"Like someone is playing the drums in my head."

Arthur smiled, "They are going to keep you in for the rest of the night for observation. You have had six stitches and have a nasty concussion. You might have a bit of a head ache for a bit but otherwise you are fine. All being well they will probably let you go home tomorrow."

"Told you I was fine," Arthur rolled his eyes. "I still feel like crap though."

"You will feel better once you have got some decent rest."

"What happened with Uther?" Merlin asked, trying to remember the hazy events of the night. The only thing that stood out for him was Arthur's kiss.

"They need to operate on him to remove the bullet then he will be going straight to the city jail to wait for trial."

"And Owain? Was it Owain?" Merlin frowned, not sure he had it right.

"Yeah. He is fine too it was just a flesh wound." Arthur said around a yawn.

"You should go home Arthur, you need to rest too."

"I know, I just wanted to make sure you were okay first."

Merlin smiled, he would normally tease Arthur about worrying about him, but it didn't seem right at the moment. "I'm fine you just said so yourself."

"Okay I will come round and check on you tomorrow." Stifling another yawn. Arthur patted Merlin's hand that was free of the drip before grabbing his jacket and leaving.

Merlin knew that if he could keep his eyes open long enough, he would obsess over that kiss. About why Arthur did it and what it meant. But it turned out being unconscious was not the same as sleeping and merlin quickly drifted off to sleep.

When Merlin woke the pain in his head had reduced to a mild throb. The drip and the heart monitor had also been removed although Merlin had no idea when.

The nurse in the room saw he was awake and checked through his vitals. She then told him that the stiches will be sore for a couple of days but provided he got plenty of rest he will be fine in a day or two. She also ordered him to come back if the headaches persisted or if he had any dizzy spells.

That left Merlin with nothing to do but to think about the kiss. Did Arthur mean to do it? Or was a spare of the moment thing? It was possible that the relief of him being okay overwhelmed Arthur, maybe that was all it meant.

The latter sounded more plausible to Merlin, after all Arthur barely liked him at the best of times and made it clear that he still wasn't wanted as Arthur's partner.

But now that Merlin remembered the events more clearly now, Uther's words echoed in his mind, '_I know that you have feelings for him even if you admit it or not.'_ What on earth could that mean?

Merlin pinched the bridge of his nose, thinking about it just made his headache worse. He shouldn't be listening to Uther at all. Uther is a deranged psychotic and out of his mind, it would make sense for him to see things that weren't there.

Merlin resolved himself just ask Arthur about it and get some answers before he drove himself insane. He didn't want things to be even more awkward between them so it would be best if they just dealt with it and got it out of the way. He was still Arthur's partner and had a job to do, even if Arthur didn't like it, he didn't want this getting in the way of his work.

Merlin was certain he was overthinking it and was over reacting. Arthur would tell him that it was a spare of the moment thing and everything would go back to what it was.

Yes that sounded like a good plan, he would ask Arthur and Arthur would set him straight. Unless Arthur refused to deal with it and avoided him like the plague. But then of course that theory was thrown in the water when Arthur turned up at the hospital to take him home, and Merlin realised he had been obsessing for most of the day.

"Are you ready to go?"

"What? Oh erm yeah" Merlin stuttered.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine Arthur," Merlin said rolling his eyes. But Arthur didn't look like he believed him, "Honestly, I have a mild headache and I'm a bit sore and tired, but really I'm fine."

The journey home was silent and the air filled with tension, the tension that Merlin had hoped to avoid.

"Do you want a drink?" Merlin asked once they got back to Gaius's house. Merlin was grateful that Gaius had chosen this weekend to visit Ealdor, if he was lucky Gaius and his mother might not find out about what happened at all. His mother would go nuts and that's the last thing he wanted right now.

"Sure," Arthur agreed hesitantly, and remained in the front room while Merlin made the drinks in the kitchen. Merlin sighed he needed to break the tension otherwise they could go on like this for weeks, which was not a pleasant thought. He decided to go with his earlier thought and tackle the situation head on.

He returned to the front room to find Arthur standing by the fire looking a little lost as if he didn't know what to do with himself "Look Arthur we need to talk about happened," Merlin blurted before putting the drinks down.

"I agree."

"I realise that it probably meant nothing to you, and I understand that it was just a heat of the moment thing but I don't want things getting awkward between us. I know that we weren't on the best terms before the shit hit the fan but I don't want this making things worse." Merlin rambled, while Arthur started to walk slowly towards him.

Merlin backed up out of instinct as Arthur advanced on him like a hunter stalking his prey. He gasped when he figured out Arthur's intent. Arthur reached him the same time his back hit the rear wall and curled his fingers on to the lapels of Merlin's jacket, pulling himself chest to chest with Merlin.

"Arthur?" Merlin gasped.

**Sexy times ahead, skip down to the next bold line if you don't wish to read.**

Arthur pressed his lips to Merlin's, this kiss wasn't hard and fast like last time but it was slow and clumsy with their teeth clacking together. Arthur tilted his head to line their lips up better. The kiss was no longer clumsy, their lips melding together in perfect synchronisation.

Their kiss quickly turned hot, filled with passion and Merlin tried to pour all his emotions into the kiss. He felt Arthur press his whole body against his, his mind going dizzy with the heat against him and lack of air.

Merlin pulled away to gulp the air down his throat and Arthur immediately pressed his lips on to neck covering him with open mouthed kisses up towards the corner of his cheekbones. Hiss hands rested on Arthur's hips as Arthur's curled around his waist.

"Arthur? Are you sure?" Merlin panted out.

"Merlin," Arthur growled into his ear and pressing his thigh in-between Merlin's legs nudging them apart. "Shut up." Arthur finished before nibbling on his earlobe.

Merlin gasped at the feel of Arthur's erection pressing against his own. Merlin rolled his hips to grind against Arthur's hot length drawing a moan from them both. "Bed" Merlin gasped, pushing Arthur off and grabbed his hand to pull him to the correct room.

Once Merlin reached his room Arthur pulled him backwards, his back to Arthur's chest. Arthur's lips were once again attached to Merlin's neck sucking a bruise onto Merlin's pulse point, Merlin tilted his head to give Arthur better access.

He panted as he felt Arthur's hands rub down his side and up over his chest and started to undo the buttons on his shirt. Merlin moved his hands backwards to squeeze Arthur's arse and push his own arse into Arthur's groin, wanting the feel Arthur's hard cock against his crack. Arthur rolled his hips, rubbing his cock in-between Merlin's clothed butt cheeks, pulling a loud moan from him.

Arthur's responding groan vibrated through his ear sending tingles down his spine. Arthur swiftly removed Merlin's jacket and shirt together.

Arthur's hands rubbed over his chest leaving a trail of fire in their wake. Merlin thought he could easily get addicted to Arthur's touch. Arthur keeping up the gentle rocking against his arse.

One of Arthur's hands was caressing his stomach, his fingers dragging through Merlin's happy trail, while his other hand was stroking his upper chest, Arthur's thumb grazed over his nipples and rolled one gently between his thumb and finger. "Ah Arthur!" Merlin cried thrusting his arse hard into Arthur's groin.

Arthur spun him around and attacked his lips, the kisses now needy and hungry as he backed Merlin towards the bed. Merlin's hands were already working on Arthur's shirt and managed to undo most of the buttons when the edge of the mattress bumped into the back of Merlin's knees causing him to fall onto his arse on the bed.

Arthur gave him a gentle shove to lie him down, and with Merlin's hands still attached to Arthur's shirt he pulled Arthur down with him. Merlin made quick work of Arthur's shirt once they were situated on the bed properly, with Arthur kneeling in-between Merlin's legs, leaving them both naked from the waist up.

Merlin raked his hands over Arthur's chest and back loving the feel of Arthur's muscles rippling under his palms. And wrapped his legs around Arthur's waist.

Arthur hovered above him kissing and licking down Merlin's chest, his tongue circling his nipples. Merlin cried out when his right nipple was sucked into Arthur's hot wet mouth feeling his teeth graze against the sensitive skin. He sank his hands into Arthur's hair scraping his nails gently across Arthur's scalp. "Merlin" Arthur breathed into his skin.

Arthur's hands ran up his thighs, Merlin whimpered when Arthur brushed his knuckles against his cock tenting in his trousers before dealing with the fastenings. Merlin's breath became quick and erratic with anticipation, desperate for Arthur's touch on him.

Arthur wrapped his hand firmly around Merlin's cock, Merlin bucked his hips up pushing his cock further into Arthur's hand at the hot touch. "Arthur!" Merlin panted, it was too much to fast he wasn't going to last, "Arthur please!" He cried unsure what he was asking for, he just wanted more. More of Arthur, more of his touch.

Arthur sat up and quickly and tugged down his pants while Merlin tugged down his own. Arthur gave him a hot searing kiss as he lowered himself down, skin to skin, chest to chest, cock to cock. Both panting and moaning when their cocks made contact with each other. The delicious friction between them was incredible.

Arthur took them both in hand and stroked them painfully slow. Smearing their precum over their cock's enabling them to slide together with more ease and increasing the friction between them. Merlin's hand joined them and encouraged Arthur to move faster. Arthur's length felt like hard steel covered in silk in his hand and wondered what it would feel like in his mouth. Merlin groaned again at the feel of the heavy weigh. "Ah" Arthur cried when Merlin tightened his grip and rubbed his thumb across the head of Arthur's cock, "Merlin!"

They both began rocking their hips increasing their pace, "Yes! Arthur!" their pace becoming more frantic both desperate to find their release. Merlin soon felt the warmth in his groin build and spread to his cock, "Arthur!" He gasped when he spilled his released over their hands and stomach, Arthur buried his head into Merlin's neck sucking another bruise, as his thrusting became wild, Arthur followed him after a few more thrusts, his deep groan vibrating over Merlin's chest.

**Sexy times over now :( you are safe now :) **

Merlin could feel Arthur's breath ghosting over his skin as they both lay there panting. "That was….was…" Merlin couldn't find the right words to describe it, amazing, fantastic, didn't seem to quite cover it.

"I think this is the first time I have seen you speechless Merlin," Arthur chuckled into his neck.

"Shut up." Merlin retorted fondly.

Merlin's body chose that moment to remind him that he was injured, something that had completely escaped his mind with the distraction of Arthur. The ache in his head increased in tempo and Merlin groaned at the pitch of it.

Arthur sensed the change and snapped his head up, "Are you alright?" Arthur's face full of concern.

"Yeah, my head just hurts a little that's all."

"What!? You said you were okay, I would never have…," Arthur gestured between them, "If I thought you-"

"Relax Arthur, it's just a headache a couple of paracetamol and I will be fine." Merlin smiled.

"Right you stay there I will go get them….And something to clean us both a bit." Arthur sat up and finished taking his trousers off that were still on up to his thighs. Merlin looked down at himself and found his own were in the same state. Merlin smiled to himself at the thought that they were both too eager to get undressed properly.

Arthur grabbed Merlin's dressing gown that was hanging on the door and left the room, while Merlin removed his own pants. Arthur returned a moment later with his pills and a glass of water and cleaned them both up with a wet flannel and got back into bed.

"Okay, I admit it," Merlin said when his head gave a particularly painful throb, "I may have over done it a bit."

"Idiot," Arthur said pulling Merlin into his side. Merlin smiled and curled around Arthur feeling happy and sated and enjoying the feel of Arthur's skin against his, using Arthur's shoulder as a pillow he drifted off to sleep to the sound of Arthur's heart beat under his ear.

* * *

Merlin stretched out like a cat the following morning when he woke, with a big smile on his face. He felt content with the world, he couldn't believe how well it turned out with Arthur. When he stretched his arm over to the other side of the bed he found a cold empty space where Arthur should have been.

"Arthur?!" Merlin called, his heart sinking into his stomach. He glanced around the room and saw that Arthur's clothes were also gone. Merlin searched the rest of the house already knowing it would be empty but checked anyway.

Arthur was nowhere to be found.

He didn't know quite what to do with himself after that. He thought about texting Arthur but didn't want to come across as needy. He knew he had been ditched and he wasn't going to make a big deal out of it like a love sick teenager.

Even if it did hurt, it hurt a lot more than he thought it would. He knew he was developing feelings for Arthur but even he didn't realise how strong those feelings were.

With nothing else left to do he decided he would have a shower and get something to eat. Suddenly ravenous at the thought of food Merlin got something to eat first, he hadn't eaten since the horrible hospital food the day before.

When he looked in the mirror after his shower, he discovered the left side of his face was covered in bruises and had several stiches on his temple. Merlin winced, okay maybe he wouldn't be able to hide that from Gaius after all. He would however be able to hide the bruises Arthur left on his neck.

On the plus side his head felt much better, he still had headache but it was nowhere near as bad as the day before. He took a couple of mild painkillers to be on the safe side which soon made his head feel normal.

He tried to keep himself busy for the rest of the day anything to stop him from thinking about Arthur and pain he left in his chest. It didn't work. He felt like an idiot, an idiot for thinking it was more than a quick fuck, an idiot for thinking they could have something good between them, an idiot for having feelings for someone who was clearly incapable of returning them.

He picked his phone up several times ready to text Arthur before changing his mind, there were a number of times he even typed out a message but deleted it before he could send it.

His phone didn't leave his side all day, in case Arthur sent him a message. Merlin didn't expect him to but he could hope. He sighed after checking his phone for the millionth time and found no new messages, he had never felt so used before.

Luckily Merlin had calls from Gwen, Lance, Gwaine and Percy even Morgana, several times that day to help keep him distracted, all asking how he was, even after telling them he was fine they still wanted to come round. He managed to fend them all off by saying Gaius was with him. He knew they meant well but he didn't want to face their pity or sympathy at the moment, even if it was over what happened with Uther and not Arthur.

He was very grateful when Gaius arrived home late in the evening, Merlin found his face in Gaius's hands before he could even say hello. "What happened Merlin?"

He winced when Gaius touched a tender spot, "I will tell you on one condition."

"What's that?"

"You don't tell my mother."

"Your mother would kill me if she found out I kept something like this from her."

"But she won't find out. Not if you don't tell her." Merlin insisted.

"I don't like it Merlin," Gaius said raising his eyebrow.

"Then I won't tell you."

Gaius stood and thought about it for a moment but Merlin knew his curiosity would win out. "Okay I promise, now tell me what happened."

"Uther kidnapped me."

"What?!"

Merlin then spent the next hour talking about the case and Uther with Gaius fussing over him, even when he protested that he was fine. Gaius then filled him in on his weekend with Alice and his mother. They were up quiet late talking about their weekends but it was a welcome distraction from Arthur. That was until he went to bed.

He dreaded going into work the next morning, he was up most of the night thinking about it. He wanted to be able to pretend he was fine and wasn't bothered by it, but he knew that would be hard especially if it wasn't true. He dreaded the thought of seeing Arthur again and didn't know if he would be able to keep it together.

Merlin didn't have much time to think about it the next morning as he was running late, this seemed to be a Monday routine for him.

Merlin managed to slip by Gwen whose turn it was too man the busy front desk today. Merlin found it surprising easy to make it to his desk without being accosted, Apparently Gwaine and Percival were in a meeting with the new Acting Chief Superintendent. Which left him with a blissfully quiet morning ahead.

However when he reached his desk, he found it completely empty. There was nothing on it, none of his papers, files or notes, nothing, it was just like when he took the desk in the first place. The draws were also empty. "Where the fuck is all my stuff?" Merlin shouted.

Surely Arthur hadn't got rid of him, surely Arthur wouldn't go that far. Arthur may have said it a few times but it was always a joke. At least he thought it was, except for maybe that last time. The nerves in his stomach suddenly increased tenfold, surely Arthur wouldn't do that to him.

Arthur's door swung open, "Merlin!" Arthur smiled. "Should you be here today?"

Merlin glared back. Smiling! How could Arthur be smiling? Was he pleased he had finally got rid of him? Anger was starting to build in his chest at being treated like he was nothing. "Where the fuck is all my stuff?" Merlin repeated slowly.

"Merlin?" Arthur said sounding confused. How dare he be confused Merlin thought angrily, he wasn't going to let Arthur do this to him not without a fight, he was done with moping. He deserved better than this.

Merlin shoved past Arthur storming into his office and stopped dead in his tracks. Arthur's office was different, there was a second desk, desk was full of Merlin's paperwork and files along with a decent computer.

"Merlin, what's wrong? I thought this would be a good thing?"

Was Arthur willing to share his office with him? That just confused the hell out of Merlin. "But I thought…"

"Thought what?" Arthur asked still not getting it.

"I woke up and you were gone…..then all my stuff was gone…..I thought that you didn't"

"What? No Merlin, no never, I left a note." Arthur cut in.

Merlin shook his head, there was defiantly no note he would have found it.

"Merlin!" Arthur said grabbing his shoulders forcing Merlin to face him. "I left early so I could set this up for you. I spent the entire day yesterday working on it, with Gwaine and Percy's help of course. But I wanted to make it up to you for the way I treated on Friday morning and to make it clear where we stand. I left a note Merlin, explaining I would be busy and that I would see you today, I swear it Merlin."

Relief sored through Merlin. Arthur hadn't got rid him, Arthur didn't ditch or use him. He ran his hands over his face, "There was no note Arthur," Merlin said quietly.

"No, I swear I left a note." Arthur insisted patting down his pockets. "I used my notebook so there should be a copy…Oh." Arthur said looking down at his notebook. Arthur showed him the notebook and on top of it was the note Arthur said he had left. "Shit Merlin I'm sorry."

Merlin didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He eventually let out a sound of something in-between. "So you do want…."

Arthur's face was completely open, honest and vulnerable as he looked directly in to Merlin's eyes, "Yes Merlin," Arthur said stepping into his personal space and lifted a hand to palm his neck with his thumb brushing against his cheekbone. "Of course I want you. How could I not? I know this looks bad, but I do want you, I swear, I want you more than I've ever wanted anything."

Merlin nodded his head letting Arthur's words wash over him. Arthur did want him, he wanted him at work _and _in his bed, merlin had never been more relieved. "So…are we good?" Arthur asked gently.

Merlin smiled, "Yeah we're good."

"Thank God," Arthur said with his own relief clear across his face. Arthur moved closer and used his other hand to frame Merlin's face, "I really did mean to leave that note Merlin, I got this idea into my head with the desk and knew I had to move quickly to set it up in time. God Merlin, I didn't mean for you to think-"

"Arthur!"

"What?"

"Shut up." Merlin replied with a smile and leant in to kiss Arthur who quickly responded, "And you're an idiot," Merlin mumbled through his lips. Arthur laughed into their kiss.

"I know," Arthur smiled, and went back to exploring Merlin's mouth.


End file.
